DragonShadows Season 2
by DragonShadow
Summary: DragonShadow's second Powerpuff girls season
1. 201- Dex Drive

201- Dex Drive  
  
  
Three years had passed since Brick and Butch had been turned into normal little boys, and Professor Patrisha Tuyoma had moved to Townsville to study the Powerpuff Girls. She'd resigned from her position at TekTron when she'd heard about Brick's discoveries in the bar. Plus her using valuable resources to save the boys had, indeed, angered a lot of people. While she was living near the Powerpuff Girls however they couldn't touch her, though they had tried many times. Nobody knew exactly who at TekTron had been involved in the bombing at the Utonium household yet, but what was clear was that it was ultimately Him who was pulling the strings with mortal connections. They had to find out who it was and unmask them if they ever wanted to have any peace of mind again.  
  
The Powerpuff Girls of course still looked like they always had; the adorable little five-year old girls who defended the entire city, though inside they were growing up normally. Buttercup was still doting over Brick much of the time, though she never did it in class when a lot of other kids were around. Blossom was sinking herself firmly into her studies, curious about anything and everything around her. It was obvious why she was the leader. Bubbles though seemed to be content being a five-year-old physically and mentally. She would help her sisters whenever she felt they needed helping, but she would never do anything she wouldn't have a few years ago. She showed no interest in boys at all, she preferred her crayons and coloring books.  
  
The former Rowdyruff Boys on the other hand had been turned into normal little boys, mortals. As a result, they were indeed growing physically like the girls never would. This caused a lot of strain on Brick especially, who found it harder and harder to make himself love Buttercup, who still looked like a five-year-old. He'd never tell her for fear it would hurt her, but every time they so much as kissed he felt a little like a pedophile, and he knew it would only get worse as he aged and she didn't. Butch by contrast had a very good time hitting the town at night... mostly to the video arcade that was his almost constant hang out joint... meeting girls and just having fun. He had a steady girlfriend of going on three years now, the arcade owners daughter Jessica, but nobody else knew about it.  
  
Miss Keane had gained more than a few gray hairs trying to keep the Powerpuff Girls AND the former Rowdyruff Boys in order, but her years of teaching kindergarten helped prepare her for it. She ran her home like she ran her classroom. Do what you please as long as you don't hurt anybody, and you pick up after yourself afterward. Professor Tuyoma lived a few houses away, trying to crack several mysteries she'd been presented with. How did Professor Utonium make the Chemical X, who all was involved in the conspiracy at TekTron, was there any way to bring that all down once and for all?  
  
Professor Tuyoma leaned back in her chair, glaring at her small desktop computer disdainfully. It was totally inadequate for what she needed to use it for, this little piece of crap could barely run it's own Screen Saver without crashing, let alone hack into any encrypted company files. Back at TekTron she'd had access to most of the companies supercomputers, but hadn't thought to look for anything underhanded.  
  
She sighed at her own previous naiveté and just watched the slight glow the monitor gave off, looking for any inspiration as to what she could do to gain access. Nothing offered though, the only way was to get better hardware and then just maybe she could get into the company system. Until then she could only guess that it might go as high as the owner of the company.  
  
She hated guesswork, she was a scientist after all, she preferred cold hard facts any day. Without them though, she could only speculate... And hope for a miracle to drop the kind of power she needed into her lap... Or someone smart enough with an advanced enough computer system to give her the answers she was looking for.  
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The hotline's ringing echoed through the entire house that Miss Keane had bought them. It was a big house, so had a hotline in every other room so the girls would be sure to hear it in the case of an emergency. Blossom streaked over to the one in the girls bedroom instantly tossing her Mathematics book aside and putting the receiver up to her ear.  
  
"What's the trouble mayor?" She asked.  
  
"Blossom, a monster's attack Townsville again, we need your help!" The mayor screamed from the other side of the line, followed by the sounds of a wall coming down.  
  
"We're on our way mayor!" Blossom told him firmly. In under a moment she'd slammed the receiver down and was streaking through the house toward the back yard where she'd last see Bubbles. She found her sitting cross-legged on the grass with a small bunny beside her in a similar position. She'd found it a few weeks ago after it'd hurt its leg.  
  
"Concentrate on your hops..." Bubbles told it serenely, her own eyes closed with a small smile on her face. "You will hop again."  
  
"Bubbles, we have a call, we have to go!" Blossom told her, startling her awake. She sighed softly and looked down at the rabbit, smiling apologetically.  
  
"Alright, we'll have to do this later Mr. Bunny." She told the rabbit, smiling and patting it's head before streaking over to join Blossom. "Where's Buttercup?"  
  
"I'd give you guesses, but you probably don't need them." Blossom said with a slight smirk. Where else did she spend nearly all of her time these days, and actually ever since the former Rowdyruff Boys had moved in...  
  
"Well let's go get her." Bubbles said resignedly. Without another word the two sisters streaked back into the house and up the stairs toward Brick's bedroom. They stopped in the hall just outside for a moment before Blossom turned the knob and pushed it open. Brick was sitting on his bed, while Buttercup was sitting on a chair across from him. It looked like they'd just been talking.  
  
"Buttercup, we have a call, come on." Blossom told her. Their brunette sister looked over at them for a moment, then sighed and turned back to Brick.  
  
"I'll talk to you later Brick." She floated up to give him a peck on the cheek before floating to join her sisters. As they streaked out of the house she looked back at her sisters, who were glaring at her steadily. "What is it?" She demanded irritably.  
  
"I think you need a hobby or something, you spend nearly all of your time with him." Blossom said simply. She wasn't trying to sound condescending or motherly, just stating it as she saw it.  
  
"What? I just like to be with him, is that wrong?" She asked, shrugging to herself. "Not like HE complains any."  
  
"Well it took us like five minutes to get all rounded up today, five minutes where Townsville's being destroyed... Didn't you HEAR the hotline Buttercup?" Blossom demanded, whirling on her sister as she continued her flight to save the day.  
  
"Yes... but... Uh... Well Bubbles didn't respond to it either!" Buttercup shot back.  
  
"She was outside, YOU were just too busy staring at your boyfriend to care." Blossom retorted. Buttercup glared at her darkly, her eyes narrowing in anger.  
  
"MONSTER!" Bubbles screeched as she turned in her flight, streaking away from them. Blossom and Buttercup looked ahead just in time to see a giant green claw slam into them, sending them both punching through the wall of a building. They both sat up, rubbing various parts of their bodies painfully.  
  
"Geeze... This thing has a good arm..." Buttercup groaned as she got to her feet, Blossom standing up beside her.  
  
"Good arm or not we get to take it out, so let's go girls!" Blossom yelled. Her and Buttercup streaked out of the building again, Bubbles rejoining them as they flew toward the monster. It was a good fifty feet tall as most monsters were, it looked almost like a giant lizard, its dark green scales running the length of its body and its dark red eyes watching them almost intelligently.  
  
"Split up!" the three girls all darted in a different direction as the thing swiped at them furiously with both claws, trying to hit them almost like it was shooing away flies. Buttercup went down, then flew up again quickly right underneath its jaw. She planted a huge uppercut right underneath its mouth, sending it head reeling up.  
  
"Hah! Not so tough..." She said, trailing off as the head came back down, glaring at her angrily. "Uh..." She said watching as the thing pulled its hand back. It thrust its arm forward in a green blur. She barely avoided the strike floating just above it, but it was still heading for Bubbles. "Bubbles look out!" She yelled quickly.  
  
"Huh? AH!" she screamed in pain as the claw slammed into her, sending her flying through the air in a blue streak. She flew out of sight, possibly clear out of Townsville itself very quickly.  
  
"BUBBLES!" Both of the other Powerpuffs started to chase her, but two claws slammed into them, pinning them to the ground underneath the razor sharp daggers that served as the things hands.  
  
"Uhn..." Blossom grunted, trying to free herself, but the claws' grip was too firm and tight. She looked over her shoulder as the thing lowered its head toward them, getting ready to finish them off.  
  
Buttercup closed her eyes, concentrating as best she could under the circumstances. Slowly she felt her consciousness melt out of her body, taking another form as it moved through the claw above her to stand on it, glaring up at the creature.  
  
"What're you aiming at lizard-lips?" the dark figure said in a dark, gritty voice, sneering up at the monster with contempt. "I'm over HERE." The monster lifted its claw off of Blossom to swipe at Mange, who vanished in a dark pulse of light, reappearing on the ground a few yards away. "Come on you overgrown gecko!" She yelled, drawing the creature away from Blossom and Buttercup, who was still unconscious currently animating Mange.  
  
Blossom looked around, taking stock of the situation quickly before she streaked up to the monsters head just as it opened its jaws to snap at Mange. She released her ice breath in a brilliant wave, sending the freezing wind into the monsters throat and throughout its entire body. The monster howled in pain and rage for only a few moments before its entire body locked up, frozen from the inside out.  
  
Mange vanished as Buttercup woke from the street, floating over to join Blossom. "Where's Bubbles..." She asked, but received no answer. She could have wound up anywhere, probably somewhere out of the STATE. They'd search for her of course, but they knew the chances of finding her as things stood were pretty slim... They could only hope she wound up in good hands...  
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The hum and buzz of electrical energy filled the air, exciting his senses to the point of almost complete serenity. He lived and breathed his work; his entire purpose of living was right here where he could create absolutely anything he wanted to. His life, all of his dreams lay here in his absolutely grand laboratory. The perfect place for science.  
  
Only the most state-of-the-art equipment was contained therein, and more than half of it had been hand built by him. He was by the admission of everybody who knew him, a genius. Nobody could compete with his intellect, few could even begin to grasp the calculations and formula's he had memorized. He was known simply as a prodigy. His name? Dexter, boy genius.  
  
A loud crash sounded throughout the mostly hollow lab as he was trying to piece together his latest invention. He looked up irritably. "Computer, report." He said, his accent showing through thickly, but the computer had been designed specifically for his speech patterns, so recognized it without difficulty.  
  
"Dexter, an unidentified intruder has broken into the lab in sector Alpha." The computer replied in its soft, female voice.  
  
Dexter grumbled as he threw his tools down to go investigate. Normally he wouldn't bother, it was almost always his nosy sister, but when the computer said unidentified it meant this guest just might be trouble. When he approached the indicated position he slowed down, hiding behind some machinery to see who was there. It looked like a little girl huddled unconscious on the steel flooring. Somehow she'd broken through the roof... and looked to still be breathing.  
  
"Amazing..." He whispered to himself as he left his little hiding place, approaching the figure. She had blond hair pulled up into a pair of pigtails on the side of her head. A blue dress with a black stripe across the middle fitted snugly against her lithe form. A pair of white tights framed her legs perfectly, and a pair of black dress shoes completed the ensemble.  
  
He walked up to her and took her arm in his hand, feeling for a pulse. It was there definitely; she would be fine once he got through with her. As long as there was no interference...  
  
"HI Dexter!" He jumped in surprise when he heard his sisters voice behind him. He hated it when she did that.  
  
"Deedee! Do you mind, I am very busy!" He yelled at her irritably.  
  
"Ooohhh, who's the girl? She's cute!" Deedee said, leaping nimbly over him to land beside the unconscious girl. "A girlfriend of yours?" She asked mischievously.  
  
"Oh yuck, NO! She just appeared in my laboratory, so I will revive her and find out who she is." The boy genius replied, grabbing one of the girls arms and heft her up. She was as big as he was though, and Deedee had to help him drag her over to a medical examination table.  
  
"Now the truth will be revealed." Him and his sister stepped out of the room and he activated the scanning procedures. The machines moved around the little girl, the lights running over every inch of her body until it had all been covered, and the data transferred to Dexters computer.  
  
"I didn't know the truth was hidden..." Deedee said at his side, watching the lasers with wide eyes. Dexter just ignored her, waiting for the scanning cycle to complete before examining the data. It wasn't at all what he'd expected. Everything about her physiology was in place... but it seemed to be running at a higher capacity...  
  
"What is this..." He said almost in awe as he watched her body functioning. It was moving at a rate he'd never seen before... Her blood seemed to be made of something else... Almost like an engine running on a higher grade of oil. It ran better, faster, and probably longer than normal human blood. "What a discovery... I could get FIVE Nobel prizes for this! It's like the ultimate steroid!" He exclaimed.  
  
"I think your Nobel Prize is waking up Dexter!" Deedee exclaimed as the figure in the examination room began to groan, stirring softly. The brother and sister watched as the pigtailed blond slowly sat up, rubbing her head painfully and looking around with half-closed eyes.  
  
"Huh? Wha..." The figure squinted against the light, blinded by it. Calmly Dexter turned down the lights and de-activated the scanners, bringing the platform back town to floor level before speaking.  
  
"Greetings, I am Dexter boy genius, and this is my laboratory... now who the heck are you!" He demanded angrily.  
  
"Dexter I'm surprised at you, she's hurt, we have to give her time." Deedee said as she walked up to the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry little girl, we'll take care of you." She said, patting her on the head.  
  
"Who are you and how did you get in here, spit it out!" Dexter demanded, making the little girl cringe with the force of his yelling. She just looked around in confusion, rubbing her head for a few minutes until she spoke.  
  
"I... Don't remember..." She said in a high pitched voice, looking around at the lab confusedly. "I don't remember anything."  
  
"Oh great, just what we need, a case of amnesia." Dexter grumped, crossing his arms across his chest.  
  
"Amnesia!? Ooohhh can we keep her!?" Deedee asked, hopping up and down excitedly. "I've always wanted a baby sister!" She exclaimed, grabbing the girl and hugging her tightly.  
  
"Keep her? You don't even know if she's human. Her blood might be poisonous for all we know, she's staying here in the lab until I can study her sufficiently to decide if we can trust her." Dexter said firmly, grabbing the nameless girl by the arm and dragging her over to a small cell in the corner of his lab. He threw her in, pressing a button on the side that sent a row of bars covering the opening.  
  
"Oh you're such a meany!" Deedee shot at him. "You're just planning to hold her captive and threaten her to make her fulfill all of your sick and twisted desires involving dancing and a lot of skin aren't you!?" She demanded. Dexter just stared at her in wide-eyed shock.  
  
"Uh... no..." He replied, still shocked.  
  
His sister glared at him for a few minutes before standing up and shrugging. "Okay!" She skipped off away from him, humming merrily to herself.  
  
"I swear that's girl's been scaring me since she hit puberty..." Dexter grumbled to himself as he went of to find the tools he needed to continue his research on this new specimen. This left his captive alone in her cell, very confused and more than a little bit frightened at being held like this. What was going to happen to her in the clutches of what looked like a mad scientist?  
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"BUBBLES" Her scream echoed endlessly into the growing night, but still she received no reply as she flitted from rooftop to rooftop, blending in with the shadows as she moved. Her pulsing green eyes were the only indication of her as Mange flitted around, searching for any signs of her dear sister, but finding none anywhere.  
  
"Buttercup get back here." She felt Mange melt away as her attention was called back to her body, which was huddled up in one of the soft chairs in the living room. "You've been looking for hours, take a break." Brick advised her as he sat down on the couch beside her chair. The size difference between them now was pretty notable; she was still physically five while he was going on nine.  
  
"I just don't get it, she couldn't have flown OFF the planet itself could she?" Buttercup asked him, shivering a bit at the absence of her sister. "We should be able to find her SOMEWHERE..." She said softly.  
  
"You will find her; she won't disappear for long I'm sure of it. You'll see her again before you know it." He told her reassuringly. "And then you'll wish she was gone again." He said, grinning. She chuckled as well, looking down at the floor at the base of her chair.  
  
"Yeah..." She said softly. She then floated off the chair and over to him, hugging him tightly for some measure of comfort. She acted tough most of the time, but she worried about her sisters when they were lost or in trouble... She felt him put his hands on her back hesitantly. She wished she knew why he was always so unsure around her now, she could barely hug him without him going nuts... was it her?  
  
She let out a soft sigh as she pulled away, looking him in the eyes. He wanted to help her in any way he could, but he looked almost scared of something. She couldn't begin to guess what would scare him, but it couldn't be good for anybody.  
  
"Um... Why don't you get some sleep... She'll probably be back by tomorrow morning." Brick said, looking only in her general direction, not meeting her gaze. She could barely believe it, now he was brushing her off. What was all of this about... Why was he doing this to her?  
  
Angrily without a word she pushed herself away from him, streaking up the stairs before he even had time to begin saying her name. Why was he pushing her away like this when she needed him? She was worried about Bubbles... She did NOT need him causing crap right now. What was his problem?  
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"Ow..." The blond ponytailed girl exclaimed painfully as Dexter drew some of the mysterious chemical from her body into a tiny needle. He grinned as he raised the syringe up to look at it. He could practically feel the impact it would have in the scientific community when he unveiled it. Dexters super-steroid, he'd be hailed as the greatest scientific mind in history once he unlocked how it was made.  
  
He turned to walk away from the girl while she was rubbing her arm tenderly where he'd poked her. "Don't I at least get a Band-Aid...?" She asked as the bars of her cell came down again, trapping her.  
  
"What? Later, I'm busy." Dexter said as he walked out of sight. The girl sighed and leaned against the bars, wishing she could remember anything, or at the very least get out of here. She didn't like it here, this lab was cold and she was getting hungry...  
  
She jumped back in surprise when the girl from before leaped in front of the cage, looking down at her with extreme interest. "Hey again! Remember me? Deedee!" She yelled cheerily, reaching over without even thinking about it to open the bars of the cell for her. "Come on, I was about to go get dinner! Maybe mom'll let you stay here with us!" She yelled.  
  
"Uh... O... kay..." The five-year-old said as Deedee dragged her out of the cell, leading her to the entrance of the lab.  
  
"You know, you need a name... At least until you remember yours... Hmm..." She mused, looking down at her for a few minutes. "I've got it... Bluebell! What do you think?" She asked, grinning happily.  
  
"Bluebell? Sure." The smaller girl replied, still a bit dazed from everything. This place was weird, she wished she could go home... but she had to remember home first. "But where's that guy that was keeping me here..." She asked suspiciously.  
  
"Dexter? Probably somewhere in his lab diddling with his things." Deedee replied with a smirk as they left the lab, the bookshelf coming down behind them again. Outside of the lab the room looked fairly normal, as did the rest of the house. "Don't worry about him, he probably won't even notice you're missing."  
  
"Oh..." The newly dubbed Bluebell said as Deedee took her hand and smiled again.  
  
"Come on, I'll take you to meet my parents, then we can eat!" Deedee told her happily. The smaller girl smiled back up at her and walked out of the room with her, not looking back even though she'd just moments ago been held captive in that weird lab. This was a little bit weird... but she'd live through it.  
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Dexters fingers flew across the keyboard of his main CPU, trying to identify each individual element used in the creation of this strange chemical. Most of it was fairly simple to piece together, but some parts managed to elude him. These components seemed awfully random, almost like someone just threw things into a pot until he found something useful.  
  
He smirked a bit as the computer failed yet again to identify the few remaining elements. "Computer run a self-diagnostic!" He said irritably, crossing his arms across his chest while his creation complied.  
  
"Systems running at 100% capacity." The computer replied in its usual soft, dulcet voice. Dexter frowned, silently fuming to himself. Nothing was above his ability to solve it, nothing.  
  
"Computer, take the sample we have and get onto the scientific network... cross-reference everything that contains these same elements and list them to me along with their properties." He said, leaning back in his chair. "This list seems familiar to me so far..."  
  
"It will take approximately eight hours to complete the request." The computer informed him.  
  
"Proceed..." Dexter told it, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. "In the meantime, I think I will get some shuteye..." He muttered, hopping off his chair and heading for the exit to the lab.  
  
"Sleep well Dexter." The computer said behind him as it began to process his request. He smiled to himself happily, he'd come closer to creating artificial intelligence in his own computer than any government or scientific group ever had. Just another example of how Dexter, boy genius, was able to outdo everybody else with his awesome intellect.  
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It was late at night, probably past midnight actually, but Brick couldn't get to sleep for the life of him. He was bothered by what had happened earlier... Buttercup looked absolutely torn apart before she'd streaked off... He couldn't do this anymore; he had to tell her... He couldn't go out with her anymore like this, with him growing up and her still being a child...  
  
He sighed and finally flung the covers off of him, sitting up in his bed. He was wearing a pair of dark red PJ bottoms with no shirt. The cold night air brushed against his skin, sending a soft chill through his spine. He couldn't sleep; he'd might as well grab something to drink...  
  
He slowly left his bedroom, making his way down the hall to the kitchen where he grabbed a nice big glass of water from the fridge. He then made his way to the living room where he found Miss Keane sitting at the computer, typing up a report of some kind. She looked back at him when she heard him enter.  
  
"Brick? Are you alright?" She asked him, leaning away from the monitor and gazing at him steadily. The Powerpuff Girls had accepted her as their mother by now, coming to her for all of their personal talks, from The Talk about boys to where babies came from. But the former Rowdyruff Boys rarely spoke to her for more than polite conversations at the dinner table.  
  
"No..." Brick replied, walking over and plopping down on the couch before continuing. "I need to ask you a question about Buttercup..." He told her.  
  
"Uh-huh... Go on." Miss Keane prodded gently.  
  
"Well she's... So small and... young." He said, sighing a bit and shrugging his shoulders helplessly. "I know she's actually older than I am... Heck she CREATED me... But still she's like a little five-year-old and I'm dating her..." He said, shivering.  
  
"I see... You're afraid it's wrong for you to go out with her because you see her as a five-year-old..." Miss Keane put it together, earning a shameful nod from Brick, who was staring at the floor. She could definitely see how that might mess with his head a little bit... How could she convince him it was okay...  
  
"Should I leave her and... I mean she's so small... and I'm getting bigger..." He said.  
  
"Well... you know how some people are born looking funny... Like someone might have toes on their hands and fingers on their feet." Miss Keane asked him. He chuckled softly at this, but nodded. "Well they look different too, just like Buttercup always will... but just because they look different doesn't mean they're not as smart, mature, and capable as anyone else. Do you understand?" She asked him gently.  
  
"I guess... And I know she's as smart as I am and stuff... But it still feels weird..." He said softly.  
  
"Then I guess you just have to decide something Brick. Can you see past how she looks to keep loving her?" Miss Keane said simply, her eyes never leaving his for an instant. He sighed deeply, looking down at the floor almost desperately for an answer. "You don't have to tell me right now, go to bed and think about it for a little while." She told him, reaching over to pat his head gently.  
  
"Goodnight..." He said obediently, getting up to head back to his room. Before he reached the hall though he turned, looking back at her. "Thanks Miss Keane..."  
  
"You're welcome." She replied, smiling at him kindly as he turned to head back to his room. She couldn't help but smile at herself inwardly; he was finally opening up to her a little bit. Now if only Butch would do the same they would be one big happy family... but she'd take this little bit of progress for now.  
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The following morning the little girl now known only as Bluebell opened her eyes, looking around tiredly. She was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor of a bedroom painted all pink. Stuffed animals and a few articles of clothing littered the floor. On the bed with pink sheets another girl was still asleep, her blond hair spread out along the pillow in a cloud around her head.  
  
She sat up in her sleeping bag slowly, yawning herself into wakefulness. She still couldn't remember anything before yesterday, she just remembered waking up in the lab with two people gawking at her. One was the boy who'd tried to make her a science experiment and his sister...  
  
She pushed herself to her feet, looking over at the still sleeping form of Deedee, huddled in the blankets on the bed. Idly she wondered just when, if ever she would regain her memory. She didn't like feeling like she'd only started existing yesterday. Deedee's sleeping form looked so peaceful, her little pink nightgown rising and falling with her breath... but her nightgown was covered by the blanket...  
  
"Huh?" She blinked in surprise and looked again to see just the blanket, no pink nightgown. Whoa, it was almost like she'd looked right through the sleeping bag... It was probably just her imagination though. She shrugged and got up, heading out the door to the bedroom and down to the kitchen where Deedee's mother was probably making breakfast.  
  
She was right. As she entered the kitchen Deedee's mom was just pulling some boxes of cereal out of the cupboards to prepare for her kids awakening. "Oh I remember you, you're Deedee's little friend. How are you?" She asked cheerily.  
  
"Oh I'm fine thank you..." Bluebell replied as she walked over to sit at the table. "What's for breakfast?" She asked.  
  
"Oh the kids favorites." Sets two boxes of cereal on the table in front of her. "Now what would you like for breakfast Bluebell?"  
  
"Oh... Uh..." She thought about this for a few moments. She couldn't remember what she liked to eat... "Just some toast would be good." She said with a cute smile.  
  
"Alright I'll just get that for you." The older woman said, turning around to start the toast in the toaster. While she waited Bluebell examined the boxes of cereal on the table. One was a frilly box with a pink pony on the cover, while the other had a military looking guy on the front wearing a muscle man shirt. Funny, she wouldn't have thought someone who talked like Dexter would be into tough guy stuff.  
  
She jumped back in surprise when the tough man box suddenly burst into flames, sending up sparks everywhere. "Deedee's mom!" She called out, calling the adults attention to the situation.  
  
"Whoa!" She quickly grabbed the nozzle on the sink and turned it on, thoroughly wetting down the box. She didn't stop the flow of water until the box was thoroughly soaked through and there was no danger of it starting up again.  
  
"I didn't do anything I promise!" Bluebell exclaimed while the grown-up just smiled at her.  
  
"Of course you didn't dear... I don't know what happened but I don't think you did it. It's okay, Dexter can have toast too." Dexter walked into the kitchen just as she said that, catching the last line.  
  
"What?" He looked at the table, seeing his cereal soaked. "Hey, what on earth happened?" He glared at Bluebell irritably, crossing his arms across his chest. She just looked down at the floor. She didn't think she'd done anything, but what else could it have been. "I want to see you in my laaa..." He stopped, remembering his mom was in the room. "My room. Now come on!" He grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her up towards his room at the top of the stairs.  
  
"I'll call you when dinner's ready!" His mom called after them just before his door shut. She just put her hands behind her back nervously and ran her little toes across the carpet while he opened up his lab, pulling her inside without a word.  
  
"What are you doing with me?" Bluebell asked, her voice shaking a bit.  
  
"There's something strange about more than just your blood, I want to find out what it i..." He was cut off when his computer spoke.  
  
"Dexter, the scan of the network has been completed. One item matches the specified substance with a 95% accuracy rating." The computer informed him.  
  
"Give me the chemical and the specifications." Dexter replied, pausing to listen, but still keeping his wrist tight around bluebells.  
  
"Androhydroxolide, a steroid developed for the TekTron corporation by Professor Jonathan Utonium and Professor Patrisha Tuyoma ten years ago." Bluebell paused at this, looking around her aimlessly since the computer didn't seem to have any speakers it was talking through.  
  
"That doesn't explain what happened to the box, and how you managed to survive a crash through a solid steel roof... Computer, have any updates been made to this steroid in the last ten years?" Dexter asked it.  
  
"Possibly. After the steroid was announced Professor Utonium had a falling out with TekTron. He worked on his own in a small city nearby. Some sources on the network indicate he spent his time further developing this substance, making it more potent by supposedly over 1000%." The computer informed him.  
  
"That would do it." Dexter said ironically, turning back to Bluebell. "Is any of this bringing back any memories?"  
  
"Professor..." She whispered softly to herself. A lot of it did seem familiar, but she still couldn't quite remember...  
  
"Computer, where is Professor Utonium now?" He asked, guessing that this girl knew him somehow.  
  
"He died four years ago. Cause of death was determined to be murder, but no suspects were ever found." The computer replied.  
  
"A falling out, a scientific breakthrough and then a murder... probably a cover-up... this is getting very interesting." Dexter said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. He loved a challenge, though few things could really challenge him. He turned to head back to his main computer system; he'd break into TekTrons computer grid and find more information from there.  
  
"Wait what about me? Aren't you going to help me get my memories back?" Bluebell called after him.  
  
"What? Maybe later, I'm busy!" He called back, leaving her alone in the lab.  
  
Bluebell sighed and looked around uselessly. Maybe Deedee would wake up soon, give her someone to at least do stuff with, show her around... It would get boring just wandering around alone... She just wished she knew what was going on... why was she seeing through things and setting them on fire?  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Buttercup yawned as she sat up in her bed, letting the covers fall down off of her shoulders. She'd gone out as Mange again in her sleep, been out all night but still found no trace of Bubbles anywhere in Townsville. She was really worried here, as she knew her sister was too. They would go out to look again today, and they'd keep looking until they found their missing sister.  
  
She got up and floated out to the kitchen tiredly. Sleep wasn't too restful when she was using her power, but she couldn't make herself just sleep. Bubbles probably needed them and she wanted to be there no matter how long it took.  
  
Brick looked up at her from the table as she floated into the kitchen, suddenly very nervous. She still wasn't sure why he was acting this way, but now wasn't the time for her to interrogate him. She had more important things on her mind at the moment.  
  
"Buttercup, I need to talk to you." He said before she could think of a good enough excuse to escape. So she steeled herself for whatever he was going to tell her and floated over to sit in the chair beside his. The size difference between them seemed insurmountable right now as she looked up at him. "I wanted to say... I'm sorry..." He said softly.  
  
"For what..." She asked him, almost afraid of what the answer might be.  
  
"For freaking out..." He replied, looking down at the floor. "You're older than I am but when we went out and stuff it was like..." He stopped, not wanting to finish lest he offend her. She got his message well enough though.  
  
"Brick... Why would you think that huh? You knew from the time you first started aging that it would be this way. Me trapped in a five-year-old body, and you growing up. You KNEW that!" She told him firmly.  
  
"Yes I did, but I didn't 'know' it, you know? I knew it would happen, but I didn't know what it would be like. I didn't think it through until recently when I noticed it starting to happen..." He told her.  
  
"Well you don't have to worry about that. I'm the same age as you are; I always will be no matter how old I look." She said.  
  
"I know that now..." Brick replied, smiling at her. He reached out one hand to her, which she promptly took. He pulled her over to him, setting her on his lap so she could snuggle up to him. "Besides... I think I like having you a nice handy lap size." He said jokingly.  
  
Buttercup just smirked a bit, half glad that things were back to normal with them, and half worried about Bubbles. One mini-crisis averted, now to find a way to end the major crisis of the missing sister...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Dexter stared at the glowing monitor of his computer screen as his fingers flew across the keys, trying to fight through this security system. It was advanced alright, he'd never seen anything quite like it. Most of the password lockouts were timed, so he had to figure out the passwords within a time limit with next to no clues. Quite probably nobody else could have done it, but he was determined.  
  
Finally he broke through the security systems encryption's after hours of work. He gave a cry of triumph as he looked through the TekTron inner systems, running a search on Jonathan Utonium. The information that came up piqued his interest even more. He'd left TekTron because of a personal dispute. He'd wanted to continue development for life giving purposes, while the company wanted to sell the existing steroid to armies to strengthen their troops.  
  
As it turned out, the company had kept tabs on him ever since he left. They knew everything he'd accomplished, the creation of the Chemical X to the birth of his so-called daughters, The Powerpuff Girls. The picture of the girls proved his theory right; Bluebell was actually one of them and had known Professor Utonium. She was Bubbles.  
  
The information also proved many other theories he'd been formulating in his mind. At the top of which was that the professor had indeed been eliminated by the company. Why they waited so long before doing it was still a mystery, as was the exact means, but they had done it. The order had been given by Geramande Luquiroto, one of the companies higher ups. He also found a whole other list of names, including the assassin himself.  
  
"Dexter, unidentified life forms approaching the lab from the main entrance." His computer told him.  
  
"So what?" He snapped back grumpily.  
  
"They're armed." The computer replied. This gave him reason to pause; his infiltration must have been detected and traced. These guys were obviously very good to trace him. Given the nature of the information he'd hacked into, they probably weren't here to give him a slap on the wrist either.  
  
"Computer, locate my sister and her little friend." Dexter told it as he started a sequence to transfer the data he'd found to a disk.  
  
"Five feet behind you." The computer replied. He turned to look in surprise just as Deedee let out a squeal.  
  
"HI Dexter!" She yelled. Her and Bubbles both started giggling uncontrollably at his surprise.  
  
"No time, we have to get ready for company." Even as he spoke they all heard the bookshelf slide up, revealing the lab to anyone who was in Dexters bedroom.  
  
"Who's that?" Deedee asked.  
  
"Company." Dexter said, strolling calmly out to the entrance to greet them. Maybe he could negotiate with them.  
  
"Hold it right there!" He stopped with the girls behind him as a dozen troops filed just inside the lab entrance, training rifles and automatic weapons at them. "Are you the boy who's been snooping?"  
  
"Indeed I am, and I couldn't help but notice that you have a few dirty little secrets. So I say you leave, and I don't tell anybody, hm?" Dexter said cockily.  
  
"How about... we kill you... and you don't tell anybody." The leader of the troops said. Several of his men cocked their weapons, ready to fire.  
  
"Uhehe... Well you see what I actually meant was... Computer activate defense droids!" He screamed, throwing himself and the girls to the side. From the back of the lab a pair of mechanical balls rolled up to the entrance. Once in place they unrolled themselves easily, standing on four spider-like legs and training a chain gun on each hand on the TekTron troops.  
  
The leader of the troops calmly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pulse ray. Instantly both of the droids seemed to convulse, collapsing to the ground in a pair of useless heaps of metal. "Hey what the... You can't do that to my droids!" Dexter complained.  
  
"I come from a technology firm genius, we probably made most of the parts you used to build those things." The troop leader told them.  
  
"Oh yes... then I guess we just have to... RUN!" Dexter, Deedee and Bubbles all took off down a hallway of the lab. Instantly they could hear the sounds of footsteps behind them as the soldiers gave chase.  
  
"Where are we going Dexter?" Deedee asked, barely panting yet. She was used to a lot of action and movement.  
  
"We're not safe in the lab right now, we'll have to get out." Dexter told her as he turned into another room, slamming the door shut once they were all in.  
  
"It's a dead end, I thought we were getting out." Bubbles said confusedly.  
  
"Of course we are, come on!" Dexter told her as he walked over to a small grate, pulling it open to reveal the long shaft behind it. "We can take the Dexters Tube to the shuttle bay." He said. Bubbles and Deedee climbed in while he turned back to the room. "Computer, activate Emergency Mechanical Hologram." Immediately an image that looked exactly like him appeared in front of him.  
  
"Please state the nature of the mechanical emergency." It said in Dexters own voice.  
  
"A group of soldiers are about to break through that door, stall them while we escape!" Dexter ordered it.  
  
"But I'm a mechanic, not a doorstop." The hologram complained as irritably as Dexter himself ever did.  
  
"Just do it you stupid hologram!" Dexter yelled at it before throwing himself into the tube after the girls. They all crawled through the darkness for a few long minutes before finally crawling out into the docking bay for one of his finest inventions. The Dex-Drive shuttlecraft, hand designed and modeled by him. An engine powered by a nuclear reactor allowed for speeds exceeding those of the governments fastest fuel powered jet. Once they got on this baby none of those soldiers would be able to touch them.  
  
"Come on, we have little time." Dexter said as the three of them walked up to the door of the shuttle. Slowly it began to open just as the door to the hangar opened as well. The troops poured in as the three turned around in surprise.  
  
"Wrong kid... time's run out!" the leader said, raising his gun and pointing it at Deedee. "No witnesses." He pulled the trigger, sending the bullet flying at her.  
  
"NO!" Bubbles screamed, throwing her in front of it in a blue streak of light. The bullet plunged into the right side of her chest, the force of it making her whirl, but she stayed on her feet.  
  
"Bluebell!" Deedee exclaimed worriedly, reaching down to help steady her. "Are you okay?" Slowly the smaller girl righted herself again, holding one hand to her chest in shock. She could feel the steel pressing against her skin... but it didn't go in. Instead the now flat round simply rolled down the front of her dress, clanking to the ground in a few moments.  
  
Slowly Bubbles raised her eyes to stare at the astonished troops in front of her. Her eyes pulsed a dark crimson. "You tried to shoot my friend..." She said with a dark frown on her face. Several of the soldiers took nervous steps backwards as they could practically see her rage building up. Finally she exploded, letting out a scream of utter fury that someone would try and hurt the people who'd helped her.  
  
A crimson shockwave ripped through the lab, tearing the very steel of the flooring apart as it slammed into the soldiers, sending them flying back against the wall with crushing force. A similar wave had seriously injured Boomer once, as well as leveling a whole section of forest. A group of normal men stood no chance in heck of withstanding such a blast, especially with the very metal around them bending and folding with the force of the scream.  
  
When the wave finally subsided Dexter and Deedee slowly took their hands off of their ears, staring at Bubbles in amazement. The Powerpuff Girl slowly opened her eyes... She could remember everything. Using her powers like that had rejuvenated her mind, bringing everything back to her. She turned toward her new friends.  
  
"I'm Bubbles..." She said softly.  
  
"You got your memory back Blue... I mean... Bubbles! Hooray!" Deedee exclaimed in delight.  
  
"Aw you can still call me Bluebell if you want to!" Bubbles said, giggling as she flew up to give her friend a hug.   
  
"Thanks for saving my life!" Deedee said, returning the hug. When they broke it apart Bubbles floated back down to the ground again, looking up at Dexter.  
  
"I should go... my sisters are probably worried sick about me." Bubbles told them. "Not to mention Miss Keane and Professor Tuyoma are probably worried too..." She said.  
  
"Professor Tuyoma... Hmm..." Dexter said thoughtfully as he reached into his lab coat, pulling out a computer disk. "Give her this disk, it contains information I think she might find very useful." He told her, passing the disk down to her.  
  
"Alright, I will." Bubbles said, taking the disk from him. "Well... Goodbye you guys..." she said softly.  
  
"You're leaving right NOW?" Deedee asked, sounding disappointed. "But we never even got to play dress-up!"  
  
"I'll come back and play with you Deedee." Bubbles told her with a grin. "You're my friend, and distance doesn't matter to a Powerpuff Girl! But my sisters will worry if I'm gone too long... they probably already are." She said.  
  
"Well... alright..." Deedee said, cheering up again slightly. "Next time I can show you Dexters collection of big robots!" She said happily.  
  
"I'd like that!" Bubbles said with a grin as she floated up away from them toward the opening in the roof for the shuttle to get out through. "Goodbye Deedee, bye Dexter!"  
  
"Bye Bluebell!" Deedee replied, giggling merrily. Dexter simply waved her off and turned back to shake his head at the mess she'd made of his hangar. Bubbles giggled and winked at her new friend one more time before turning and flying away, back towards Townsville, towards home... and most importantly, towards her sisters, The Powerpuff Girls.  
  
THE END 


	2. 202- Vigilante

202- Vigilante  
  
  
  
"Thanks to Bubbles' recent misadventure, we have a list of names of those involved in the assassination of Professor Utonium..." Professor Tuyoma told the three girls, who were sitting on the couch in the professors house, listening to her intently. Finally after four years of wondering how it'd happened and wanting to do something about it, they would find ALL of the people responsible for the explosion at their old house. They'd find them all and take them all down any way they had to...  
  
"So let's go find the mastermind behind this and kick his butt!" Buttercup exclaimed, leaping into the air and floating there with a determined look on her face. "What ARE we waiting for?"  
  
"It's not so simple Buttercup, we have to get this disk to the police and find the evidence to convict the people involved. Starting from the bottom." Professor Tuyoma chided her gently. "Those higher up are less likely to bail their positions at any sign of trouble..." She finished.  
  
"So who do we go after first Professor?" Blossom asked her, almost sounding as eager as her brunette sister.  
  
"The man who hired the assassin to plant the bomb..." Pathrisha replied.  
  
"Wait, what about the guy who PUT it there, wouldn't he be first!?" Buttercup complained.  
  
"Well yes... but part of the data on the disk is corrupted, probably from when Bubbles used her sonic powers right next to the disk." The professor replied.  
  
"I'm sorry..." Bubbles said, lowering her eyes sheepishly.  
  
"It's okay Bubbles, you can ask the guy who hired them just who he hired, it's no big deal." The adult told her gently, patting her head to show it was alright.  
  
"So who is that exactly?" Blossom asked curiously. Professor Toyuma looked down at the list, smirking a bit as she read the first name.  
  
"I'm not sure if you girls are going to believe this but... Frederick Morebucks." She told them. As expected all three Powerpuff Girls gasped in surprise. Princess' father had been involved in that? Well it wasn't all THAT surprising really when they thought about it, but it was still disturbing to think it was someone they knew.  
  
"I'll take him..." Buttercup volunteered darkly. "Tonight... I'll get the names out of him while Bubbles and Blossom tell the police about this." She told the others.  
  
"What are you talking about, we're a team Buttercup!" Blossom reminded her fiercely. "You can't run off and do this on your own just because you think this is YOUR personal vendetta. Me and Bubbles have just as much to do with this as you do!"  
  
"Don't get your panties in a bunch oh great leader!" Buttercup shot back irritably. "Morebucks Mansion is wired up like Fort Knox as far as security is concerned, I'm the only one here who can get in without setting off the alarms and get the names from him without making US all look like criminals!" She told her firmly.  
  
"She's right." Professor Tuyoma interrupted before Blossom could come up with a decent comeback. "She can use her powers to sneak in, get the names from him, and get out again and nobody would know you girls had anything to do with it." She said.  
  
"Hah!" Buttercup exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at her sisters. "I told you so!"  
  
"Well you just better watch what you do Buttercup, you can't hurt him even though he had a hand with the professor..." Blossom told her firmly.  
  
"I won't hurt him, just shake him up a little until he spills..." Buttercup told her not-so-reassuringly. Blossom didn't quite trust her, but really couldn't argue. They made sense; Buttercup COULD get in and out without alerting anybody else, she just wished it was anybody BUT her brash sister.  
  
"Tonight, when Mr. Morebucks is asleep, you can pay him a visit. In the meantime Blossom, you and Bubbles can take this list to the police and they can begin their own investigation." Professor Tuyoma told the other two girls, handing them the disk Dexter had given to Bubbles.  
  
"Right, come on Bubbles." Blossom said dutifully as she took the disk from Professor Tuyoma. Quickly her and her blond sister flew out of the building, leaving Buttercup to prepare for her infiltration that night. It wouldn't be too hard, but she would have to be careful not to trip any alarms. The slightest mess up could leave the Powerpuff Girls looking like the bad guys...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Butch leaned against one of the arcade machines lazily as he watched some kids playing Tekken Tag Tournament on a machine across the isle. He spent a vast majority of his out-of-school time hanging out down here at the video arcade, partly because he preferred to be out of the house with the Powerpuff Girls in it, but mostly because of her... Jessica Portrayan... his schoolyard sweetheart and daughter of the video arcade owner. Sometimes she even got him free tokens.  
  
He had a lollipop sticking out of his mouth, holding it almost like it was a cigarette butt between his lips. Finally the two kids finished their game and left, leaving the machine wide open. He walked up and popped a few tokens in, taking hold of the stick, his other hand hovering over the buttons. Suddenly Jessica walked up behind him, smiling at him.  
  
"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting Butch, I'm ready for our match." She told him with a confident grin. They always had a game right after school, which was one of the things he admired about her. Few girls seemed to enjoy video games, but she'd been raised around them, so could match up with the best players in the world.  
  
"Come on then." He invited her, watching as she popped in her own tokens. In a few moments they both had their characters picked and were entering the battlefield.  
  
Without warning someone tapped Butch's shoulder from behind rather roughly, nearly pushing him into the arcade cabinet. He knew who it was even before he turned around to look up at the kid.  
  
"Weak, don't make me call my father!" Jessica warned him disgustedly. Weak Stronghold, one of the class bullies for this year was glaring down at Butch like he almost always did. Butch hated these encounters; they just served to remind him of what he didn't have anymore. As a Rowdyruff Boy bullies had never been a problem, he could take them all. Now though he was just another comparatively small kid...  
  
"We were about to play this machine runt." The bully told him snootily. Butch and Brick were small for their age, since they hadn't begun to age until they were six, so they were physically a year behind everyone else. "So bug off." He said.  
  
"Why don't you either find another machine or wait your turn?" Butch fired back angrily. He knew he probably shouldn't have said it, he shouldn't have argued, but it wasn't in his nature to let someone walk all over him.  
  
"What did you say you little punk?" Weak said angrily as he grabbed Butch by the shirt collar, slamming him up against the arcade machine. Jessica gave an exclamation of anger while Butch's head bounced off the cabinet, nearly knocking him unconscious.  
  
"Get away from him you big bully!" Jessica screamed loudly, glaring up at the much bigger boy. "Or I'll tell my dad and get you thrown out!" She told him angrily. For a kid, there was no worse threat than being banned from the video arcade.  
  
Weak smirked down at Butch, who was blushing in embarrassment. "Defended by a girl, some superhero you are." He said with a smart laugh. He let the former Rowdyruff Boy go then, turning and walking away from them without another word. Butch glared after him, blushing with anger and embarrassment, this always happened when he came here... He wanted to fight back, but he couldn't without his powers.  
  
"Butch, are you alright?" Jessica asked worriedly as she walked up to him, putting one hand on his shoulder. He blushed again brightly as he brushed himself off, trying to look cool.  
  
"I'm fine... God I hate him, why does he have to pick on ME of everybody in school?" Butch demanded angrily.  
  
"Well it's probably because you were a superhero." Jessica reasoned. "He likes being able to beat up a superhero."  
  
"Gee thanks for the news-flash..." Butch replied drolly.  
  
"Hey don't snap at me, you asked." Jessica retorted. "If you're so worried about facing him why don't you just learn to fight?" She asked him simply. "My dad signed me up for martial arts when I was seven... and I've really been better off for it."  
  
"Martial arts?" Butch asked, suddenly curious.  
  
"Yeah, it's really kind of fun." Jessica replied. "You get to fight and not get in trouble for it! The worst part is wearing that stupid little gi thing, but otherwise it's all fun, and I can probably beat YOU up now." She told him, grinning.  
  
"Maybe..." He said thoughtfully, looking at her. He'd have to ask Miss Keane first of course, but maybe this was the answer to his problems. He didn't have his powers anymore, so he'd have to learn to fight the normal way. It'd be a bonus if he could get in the same class as her too...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The night seemed especially dark tonight as the shadowy form of Mange crept up to the front door of Morebucks Mansion. Her dark body blended perfectly into the shadow of the mansion; her essence floating in the breeze to her side as her light green eyes scanned the area for any signs of movement. The darkness was totally still and silent, almost like the world itself was waiting to see what happened once she entered the building.  
  
She shook her head as she approached the door, melting into the shadows and passing through the crack in the door to materialize on the other side. She was just an astral projection, so she wasn't limited by physical space and proportions. This was why she would get in without alerting anybody.  
  
She kept her eyes open for any signs of security lasers or guards as she made her way down the hall, floating a few inches above the floor rather than walking. It didn't look like there was much security, but that didn't meant he coast was clear by any means. After the incident with Princess having all of her stuff stolen, they'd watched a whole army of people come in and install about a dozen different security systems.  
  
She stopped cold when she sensed lasers strung all around the next hallway, visible only because she could see the tiny pinpoints of their origins in the darkness. She looked around the hall carefully, spotting the device that emitted each laser, looking for a break in the web of lasers she could use to get through.  
  
Finally she spotted one, just a tiny hole in the nearly solid wall of laser detectors. She let herself melt into the surrounding darkness, mingling with the shadows as she slipped through the crack in the laser grid, reforming easily on the other side. She could see Mr. Morebucks' room just a few yards away down the hall. She floated toward it, above the pressure sensitive panels in the floor she could make out because of a slight fold in the fabric of the carpet. She could notice things as Mange that would have slipped by anybody else.  
  
She slipped through the crack of the door, finding her objective sleeping soundly in his obviously very expensive bed. She silently floated up beside him, glaring down at him. It would be so easy to beat the crap out of him right now, get revenge for the professor... But not until she had the name of the person who actually planted the bomb.  
  
"Wake up you old fart." She grumbled darkly, kicking the bed forcefully. He was startled awake as the bed rocked, nearly throwing him to the floor.  
  
"What's the meaning of this!" He demanded angrily, looking around for any sign of the intruder. He saw nothing except darkness all around him for a few moments until he looked up a bit seeing a pair of pulsing green eyes staring down at him.  
  
"I want something from you, and you're going to give it to me." Mange said darkly, her eyes narrowing dangerously in the darkness.  
  
"Who are you, get out of here!" Mr. Morebucks howled angrily, grabbing a vase off of his nightstand to hurl it at her. It simply passed right through her body, crashing to the wall behind her in a shower of glass.  
  
"Wrong answer." Mange grabbed him, heaving him up off the bed to float a few feet above it. She slammed him against the wall over his headboard, putting her face right up next to his. "Who did you hire to kill Professor Utonium?"  
  
"What on Earth are you talking about?" Mr. Morebucks replied, trying to sound cool and calm, but he failed miserably.  
  
"Strike two!" Mange said, pulling him away from the wall to slam him against the arched ceiling high above the floor. She held him there, staring up at him with narrowed eyes. "I think you know where strike three will land you. It's a long way down... now TALK. Who planted the bomb?" She demanded.  
  
"A local gang... they didn't want anyone related to TekTron involved so I got a group of local kids to do it..." Mr. Morebucks confessed, obviously scared to death of the height she'd brought him up to. Useful knowledge, he was scared of heights.  
  
"Give me names!" She demanded.  
  
"There's a list... they all had to sign it, it's in the drawer by the bed!" He told her desperately.  
  
She narrowed her eyes and threw him down to land on the bed heavily, nearly sounding like he'd broken it for a moment. She floated down to the nightstand, calmly pulling the drawer open and finding a file lying there. She pulled it out and opened it, indeed finding the promised list of names. It wasn't a horribly long list, as gangs in Townsville tended to be pretty small.  
  
"Good for you Freddy." Mange said, looking over at the billionaire who was huddled on the bed, watching her warily. "Now you have a choice. Turn yourself in to the police, or I'll be back to take you to them." She told him before she floated back though the house the way she'd come, knowing what to avoid where. That hadn't been so hard, and now they had the names of everyone involved in the planting of the bomb. Good day indeed...  
  
As she flew through the night sky she studied the list curiously. They were mostly names she didn't know; it was too bad there were no addresses. Well that was okay; they could find them with just the names. The last name on the list though made her physical heart skip a beat when she saw it. She stopped in mid-air just staring at it. She knew him... She knew him very well... He was involved?  
  
Mitch Mitchelson... but how? Even as she thought about it she realized that it was entirely possible... Four years ago a little after the Professor had been killed... She'd run into Mitch and his mother in their home...  
  
* * *  
  
"How long has it been?" Buttercup asked, trying to hide the embarrassment she felt at that moment. This lady was helping her; it wouldn't do to turn ungrateful just because she was embarrassed about her son.  
  
"Only a few minutes, your sisters should be here any moment to pick you up. You heal fast." She commented with some degree of respect and maybe a hint of jealousy.  
  
"Well you kind of have to when you usually fight monsters every day..." Buttercup replied, her gaze wandering over to Mitch, who had turned to the TV to play some video games. "Why's he sitting at home? Shouldn't he be out?" She asked.  
  
"He spends a lot of his time at home." Mitch's mom replied, following Buttercups gaze over to the boy. "He gets into trouble a lot... I try to find ways to get him to stop but he keeps on doing it." She said softly.  
  
"What does he do?" Buttercup asked curiously. From the look on her face she knew she wasn't talking about simply not having any friends.  
  
"Lately he's taken to hanging around with a group of older kids, they do all kinds of illegal and immoral things... He's been brought back by police three times since school let out." The woman confided softly so her son wouldn't overhear. Buttercup just stared at him curiously. He was a bully, but she didn't think he was a criminal.  
  
"Maybe I can..." She was cut off when the front door flew open. Luckily it hadn't been locked, or Brick would have likely broken it down before streaking over to Buttercup side, taking her hand worriedly.  
  
* * *   
  
She'd completely forgotten about it in the events that had followed, but that meant he WAS part of a gang... the gang that'd killed the professor... and they'd been friends at least somewhat in the last few years... how could he do this to them? He was a killer! He was in the same class as them and never said anything, never even looked the slightest bit guilty...  
  
She could feel her rage building as she thought about it. All the times they'd hung out, mostly because they had the same friends. All the time he was the one who'd killed her creator... her father. Or at least he'd helped... God it burned her up!  
  
She had to see him tonight, before she gave the list to Professor Tuyoma. She didn't know what she'd do, but she had to see him. Get some reason or something... They'd never quite been friends with each other, but this just didn't feel right. It couldn't be right...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Butch lay in the bathtub lazily, letting himself soak in the warm water. He'd been thinking about taking Jessica's advice all day, joining a martial arts class. And the more he thought about it the more it appealed to him. He didn't have his powers, but it didn't mean he could no longer fight as long as he knew how. He just had to learn how.  
  
He looked over as Miss Keane passed by in front of the barely cracked bathroom door. "Miss Keane." He said beckoningly. He sat up and leaned against the side of the tub as she pushed the door open a bit wider and looked in at him. He wasn't shy about her seeing him, she was practically his mother though he'd never admit it.  
  
"Need something Butch?" She asked, sounding a bit surprised by his suddenly wanting to talk. He rarely said anything to her except for the occasional what's for dinner.  
  
"You think I could take some martial arts classes?" He asked her, staring up at her with his best puppy-dog-eyes. They still weren't very good though, he wasn't used to asking for things. He needed money for the classes though, and short of stealing she was his only source of it.  
  
"What for? I already give you money for the video arcade. Any money for classes will be taken out of your allowance." She told him firmly in a no-nonsense tone. He sometimes hated having a teacher for a guardian, she knew how to set rules and make sure they were obeyed.  
  
"Alright alright, but can I take the classes or not?" Butch asked irritably.  
  
"Sure, we'll take you down there and get you signed up tomorrow." Miss Keane replied with a soft smile.  
  
"Thanks..." Butch said, smirking. She smiled at him again before pulling the bathroom door closed again so he could continue his soaking. Well he got what he'd wanted, though he'd have to cut back on the games... aw well, he didn't really go down there for the games much anyway.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Mange floated down to Mitch's bedroom window silently, looking inside to see the boy lying on his bed, almost asleep. He looked like he always had, but to her he also looked almost evil, hiding everything he'd done in a mask of innocence. She didn't know why she saw him that way, she didn't even know what was going on at the time or even if he'd been present... but that was why she was here, to find out.  
  
She seeped through the cracks in the window, reforming on the other side to approach the bed. His breath was coming in shallow waves, and at the moment his usual smirking frown was gone, replaced instead by just the peace of a sleeping nine-year-old boy. Hard to believe he'd helped to murder her creator...  
  
"Wake up." She growled darkly as she grabbed the front of his pajama shirt, hauling him off the bed to float in mid-air. He opened his eyes in surprise, looking around startled before noticing the puling green eyes right in front of him.  
  
"MOM! Mhmhmpp!" He was muffled quickly as the dark essence of her form wrapped itself around his mouth, silencing him.  
  
"I'm going to ask you questions, and you're going to nod yes or no, got it?" She asked him, narrowing her eyes. He just nodded, his eyes wide in fear. "Good. Now, you're part of a gang, true or false?" She asked him. He shook his head quickly, trying to lie his way out of it.  
  
"Buuuzzzz, wrong answer." She said, slamming one fist into his stomach. He gasped out in pain as she pulled out the list, showing it to him. "Does this bring back any memories Mitch?" He stared at the paper, his eyes shining with surprised recognition. "It does doesn't it... This is the list of people who helped to plant the bomb that killed Professor Utonium." He tried to talk but was still muffled by her dark cloak, so she moved it away from his mouth slightly.  
  
"I was young... I STILL am but... I thought it would only be a prank... Maybe scare him a little, but I didn't know it'd take the whole house with it!" He told her, his voice quivering as he stared into her glowing green eyes.  
  
"It was a BOMB idiot! Bombs kill people, or were you THAT dumb!" Mange howled angrily, shaking him violently in the air.  
  
"I'm sorry... I didn't want to kill anybody, but the others all said it was okay... We got a lot of money for it and stuff... They said it was cool!" He said, trying to get her to let him go.  
  
"I don't care what they told you! What you're going to do now is march into the police station, confess, and give them the names and addresses of everyone in your gang that was involved!" She told him firmly.  
  
"No way! I'm not gonna betray them like that!" Mitch said. "I won't betray my friends..."  
  
"Won't betray your friends?" She growled, throwing him cross the room in anger. He slammed into the floor, rolling up against the wall hard with a grunt of pain. "You DID betray everyone you stupid little prick!" She howled almost hatefully, losing control of herself little by little.  
  
Mitch just stayed on the ground, looking up at her with pain-filled eyes. Whether from the throw or if he was actually regretting everything Mange couldn't tell, and that only pissed her off even more.  
  
"I'll be keeping an eye on you Mitch..." She said, trying to keep a hold of herself before she did something she knew she'd regret. "You WILL tell the police everything tomorrow... or I will tell them and you'll go to juvenile hall, or maybe even prison for outright murder." She told him darkly, watching his reaction carefully. He didn't look directly at her, but just looked down at the floor. "You have a chance here... To stay with your REAL friends and family... don't screw it up for a bunch of people who'll only drag you into the dirt with them."  
  
With that she turned and floated toward the window again. In a mere instant she vanished through the window, leaving him lying on the floor by the wall, looking around him fearfully with tears stinging his eyes. He didn't know who Mange truly was, that was a secret among only the Powerpuff Girls and former Rowdyruff Boys. Still Buttercup hoped he would make the right decision, she would hate to have to bring down someone who'd gone to the same class as her for her whole life.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The next day was thankfully Saturday, so Butch didn't have to wait until school was out to attend his first day of lessons. In fact Jessica had agreed to meet him there on the phone this morning, so it was promising to be a very good day if everything went well.  
  
He hoped these classes would help him out. Brick never had any trouble with bullies or fights because he was dating Buttercup and everyone in school knew it. Nobody was dumb enough to tangle with one of the Powerpuff Girls or their sweethearts. Butch though was fair game, because he didn't really pal around with the girls that much. He preferred to stick to others outside of his family, even as far as Brick was concerned.  
  
He entered the building where the training was supposed to happen to find about half a dozen kids already there waiting. They all wore white or black karate gi's already with belts of varying colors. In a moment Jessica walked up to him and his jaw nearly dropped. She looked extremely cute in that black gi, especially with her long blond hair tied up in a little bun while she practiced.  
  
"Here, I got this for you. Normally you're not allowed to do this, but the instructor here's really cool." Jessica told him cheerily as she handed him a dark green gi for him to wear.  
  
"Uh... thanks." He told her sheepishly, still a bit stunned by how cute she looked in her outfit.  
  
"Well go ahead and go put it on!" She urged him, practically pushing him into the dressing room and closing the door behind him. He got dressed bemusedly, taking off his pants so he could put on his gi. He left his shirt on since it blended in with the green top well enough.  
  
When he was dressed he emerged from the dressing room to meet a grinning Jessica. "You look great!" She told him enthusiastically. He smiled back at her nervously. "Now just do as the instructor says and everything will be fine. You'll have fun, don't look so tense." She told him.  
  
"I'm not tense." Butch argued as the instructor took his position at the head of the class. The students all moved to line up as well as the class began.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Buttercup sat on the park bench silently, bothered by some inner conflict she didn't want anyone else to know about. She was still trying to figure things out... she wanted Mitch to give himself up so they would go easy on him... but at the same time she wanted to inflict as much pain on him as possible for killing the professor... Revenge versus justice... It sounded like an easy decision, justice was always right... but it was so hard to deny herself the other...  
  
She looked up across the park as she noticed Mitch moving along the path from where he'd been for the past ten minutes. She'd been tailing him all day, hoping he would head to the police station. He didn't show any sign of it though; he gave no indication anything was wrong at all. Maybe he thought last night was just a dream... Well in any case it looked like she'd have to do something after all.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts." She looked over in surprise as Brick walked up to her, smiling down at her on the bench. "Sorry, I've always wanted to say that." He smiled, sitting down beside her. She smiled back up at him and looked across the park again thoughtfully. "Blossom and Bubbles told me where you went last night... You really couldn't get anything out of him?"  
  
"Nothing except a string of babbling..." She lied to him. She didn't want the others to know about the list yet, not until she was sure about what she wanted to do about it all.  
  
"Sucks... I know you probably really wanted to find whoever planted the bomb." Brick told her gently.  
  
"I'll live." She replied, watching carefully as Mitch left the park through the main entrance, turning left. "Excuse me, I've got something I have to do." For perhaps the first time in their relationship she just left him sitting there alone, leaving him behind as she went off to do something or other. She knew he wouldn't be too happy later, but she had something she had to concentrate on right now.  
  
She flew over the street, landing on a building on the other side to watch Mitch strolling lazily down the sidewalk. He just walked along, the wind blowing through his hair and shirt as he neared the police station, looking over at it thoughtfully. For a moment she thought he would pass it by without worrying, but he hesitated in front of it, looking lost in thought.  
  
"Go in Mitch... Go in and confess." Buttercup pleaded with him in a soft whisper. He simply stared at the building for a few minutes, looking a bit worried and scared, as well he should be. He would be confessing to murder and conspiracy to murder, as well as possibly obstructing justice. It was a lot to peg on someone who was only five-years-old at the time, but it was right for him to admit to it...  
  
After a few long, agonizing minutes he finally shook his head and just continued down the street. Buttercup hung her head and sighed, it almost looked like he would for a moment, but of course he wouldn't... So she'd have to.  
  
She floated down from the rooftop with a heavy heart, landing in front of the police station and heading inside. Several dozen cops were milling out, waiting for some emergency to call them into action. After a few minutes one of the female officers on duty walked up to her curiously.  
  
"Is something wrong?" The officer asked Buttercup gently. The Powerpuff Girl was about to speak when the main door opened again behind her. She looked to see Mitch walking through the door, sweating like he was about to do the scariest thing he could possibly imagine. She couldn't help a small smile creeping across her mouth at this.  
  
"Buttercup What are you doing here?" Mitch asked her in surprise.  
  
"Just doing a patrol." She told both of them, stepping to the side.  
  
"Do you need something little boy?" The officer turned to him now. He gulped and looked down at the floor nervously, running the toe of his shoe across the floor.  
  
"Um... Yeah I... Uh..." He closed his eyes, trying to force the words out. "I have a confession to make..." He said softly.  
  
"Oh? What is it?" The officer asked gently, trying to make him feel like it was alright.  
  
"I... I..." Mitch stumbled over himself to say the words. "I... Helped kill Professor Utonium." He blurted out quickly, clenching his eyes shut and bracing himself for the response.  
  
"You... what?" the officer asked in surprise. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Me and seven other boys planted the bomb in Professor Utoniums lab... I can give you their names and addresses..." Mitch said quickly. "I can tell you anything you want just please don't send me to prison..." He said softly. Buttercup almost pitied the kid for having to do this to himself... ALMOST pitied him. She still hated him for doing what he did, so she didn't pity him too much.  
  
She was a bit surprised when he looked over at her, almost looking like he was ripping his own heart out by doing this. "Sorry Buttercup..." He said softly. It took her a moment to realize he thought she didn't know this before. He didn't know she was Mange. So she simply nodded at him, keeping her face carefully expressionless.  
  
"Come on kid, I'll take you back to see someone who knows about this... It'll be okay." The officer gently took his hand to lead him into the back of the station.  
  
Buttercup watched him go, at once both glad he'd come forward, and relieved that everyone involved would be brought to justice. A confession would be more convincing than a paper list anyway, so it was best this way all around. Hopefully this would teach him a lesson, get him to keep away from stuff like this in the future. Of course, this meant she would never be able to really avenge the professors death... but she supposed this would be enough. Justice was served... And justice was the Powerpuff way, not revenge.  
  
She turned and walked out of the police station then, satisfied that all of the assassins would be taken in and locked away except maybe Mitch himself, who'd probably get time off for confessing and implicating the others. Now she could concentrate on finding the higher ups, and bringing the entire corporation down to its knees... Starting with Freddy boy...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Butch was panting heavily by the time the martial arts class let out two hours after it began. Him and Jessica were walking down the street toward her house, both of them panting and sweating heavily from the long, exhausting workout, though he was obviously a lot more tired than she was.  
  
"How often do you do this again?" He asked her between pants, trying to catch his breath though he seemed to be failing miserably.  
  
"Only five times a week..." She replied, smiling over at him happily as they walked. "Don't tell me the mighty Butch is regretting joining the class." She said teasingly.  
  
"Geeze Jessica... why did I let you talk me into this..." He asked her, sighing and closing his eyes as he stumbled on the sidewalk, though he quickly righted himself.  
  
"THAT'S why..." Jessica said drolly. Butch looked up to see Weak Stronghold and his buddies walking along the sidewalk toward them, not even seeming to have noticed them yet. In a moment they looked over and saw them though, grinning broadly at the sight of them.  
  
"Oh how cute, matching outfits for the two little girls." Weak said with a hearty laugh. The rest of the boys joined him in a moment, causing Butch to turn red from anger.   
  
"Get out of my face Weak, I'm not in the mood for this right now." Butch said angrily.  
  
"What would you rather do, go and play with your girlfriend?" Weak asked teasingly. The other boys cackled while Jessica crossed her arms over her chest, smirking at him as angrily as Butch. "Go ahead Butchy-poo, give her a kiss for me."  
  
"At least he's kissed someone other than his mom!" Jessica exclaimed angrily. Butch's eyes went wide along with the rest of Weak's buddies. Weak himself turned red almost instantly, infuriated.  
  
"What did you say..." He grumbled, his fists balling up beside his body as he advanced on her.  
  
"Hey now cool it!" Butch exclaimed, leaping in front of him. "What're you gonna do, beat up a girl?" He asked.  
  
"Why... yes." Weak said, planting one solid punch to Butch's nose. The former Rowdyruff Boy reeled back until he ran into Jessica, sending them both tumbling to the sidewalk in a tangle of bodies and limbs. Weak and the rest of the boys just laughed as the two slowly separated themselves, both of them blushing in embarrassment.  
  
"Some training Butch, a lot of good it's doing you." One of the boys said mockingly. "Oh look at my, I look like a Christmas tree, all green and shiny!" The boys laughed again as Butch and Jessica stood up, facing them.  
  
"That's it, come on!" Butch leapt forward angrily, swinging his fists at the bigger boy in a rage. Weak easily grabbed his head, keeping him back long enough for him to wind up a punch, slamming it into his forehead. The former Rowdyruff Boy reeled back again, but this time Jessica managed to catch him instead of being pulled down to the sidewalk with him.  
  
"Okay, enough." She said, making sure Butch could stand on his own before stepping toward the boys, taking up a stance she'd learned in the class. The boys all laughed, but Weak walked up to take the challenge anyway.  
  
Jessica lunged forward, whirling to throw a series of kicks at him. He backed away from her in surprise for a minute, not really expecting much of a fight. Eventually he managed to grab her ankle in the middle of a spin, halting her momentum right there. He pulled her forward violently off balance; catching her and holding her like a human shield.  
  
"What're you gonna do now babe?" He asked her mockingly. Suddenly someone grabbed him around the throat, pulling him back away from her. One leg kicked the bigger boys legs out from under him as Butch yanked him backward so the bullies back slammed square into his knee. He then shoved Weak off of him to the sidewalk, holding his back painfully.  
  
"Not bad." Jessica said as she moved to his side, looking back at the group of angry faces. "But let's get out of here now..." She finished, already backing away from the group.  
  
"Yep." Butch agreed just before they both whirled and took off running down the sidewalk. The bigger boys gave chase, but were quickly outdistanced by the smaller and faster pair. They ran until they reached Jessica's house, darting inside and closing the door behind them quickly.  
  
"Whew..." She said, smiling over at him. "You did pretty good for a beginner Butch. A few more classes and you'll be able to take him on without jumping him from behind." She said, grinning mischievously at him.  
  
"Yeah well for now I'll settle for jumping him." Butch replied, leaning his head against the door tiredly. He really wasn't in the best shape; he hadn't done much in the last few years except walk all around town. Maybe it was time he got back into fighting shape again anyway. It would do him some good.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
That night while Buttercup hid away from her sisters, she crept out of her body as Mange to make her way to Morebucks Mansion. She had a promise to keep to the murderer to throw him in jail if he didn't already confess. She never went back on her promises either, especially ones that would really be bad for some bad guy.  
  
"What the..." She whispered to herself as she landed on the gate just outside of the manor. As she watched Mr. Morebucks was loading stuff into a limousine quickly, probably planning to skip town with his money rather than be implicated in this. Professor Tuyoma was right; the little rat was turning tail and abandoning ship.  
  
Her eyes narrowed irritably as the gate opened to let the vehicle leave. She hated it when people broke their appointments. Before he could streak out of site she flung herself off of the gate, landing silently on the roof of the limo just as it began to move. The wind rippled through her dark essence almost like a cloak, but it didn't even come close to knocking her off of her perch.  
  
Calmly she moved up to the front of the limo to hang her head over the side, looking at the driver through the window. She knocked softly. "Boo." The driver looked over at her, gasping in shock when she punched through the window, lunging in at him. Her darkness enveloped him for a few minutes while she made quick work of him, throwing him to the passengers side seat unconscious.  
  
Quickly gripping the wheel, she used her essence to work the break and accelerator as she discreetly guided the limo towards the police station. The window between the front and back seats was tinted, so her target hadn't seen anything.  
  
He did however notice their change of direction. "Hey, where are you taking me. This isn't the way to the airport!" He said angrily, muffled by the thick glass of the window that separated them.  
  
Mange calmly reached down to flick the intercom switch. "Change of plans Freddy." She said in the dark tone that she used when masquerading as the dark figure. "You're not leaving town for a long, long time." She couldn't help a smirk of satisfaction when se heard him gasp in surprise and a bit of fear. She loved this feeling nothing could stop her.  
  
Finally they reached the police station and she brought the limo to a halt, waiting until he climbed out before flowing out the window after him. He might have tried to run, but she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him up to the station and up to one of the officers inside.  
  
"This is the man who hired the kids that killed Professor Utonium. You can ask the kids if you don't believe me." She told the officer, throwing Mr. Morebucks to the ground at their feet. The officers looked down at him in surprise, but when they looked up again Mange was already gone. Melted back into the shadows where she looked like she belonged.  
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The next morning Buttercup, Bubbles, Brick and Butch were all gathered at the table, eating breakfast companionably enough. In a few moments though Blossom stomped down the stairs and up to the table angrily, slamming a newspaper down on the middle of the table. The force of it sent every bowl into the air about three inches, splashing half of them with milk.  
  
"Hey, Blossom! What was that for?" Bubbles asked in surprise.  
  
"Why don't you ask our oh-so-dear sister?" Blossom told her, staring straight at Buttercup with her arms folded across her chest. Buttercup growled slightly up at her, but she stopped when she saw the headline of the paper. Shadow Strikes Down Murder Conspiracy. It even had a picture of Mange hauling Frederick Morebucks up to the police station.  
  
"So I took care of a few things... What's the big problem?" Buttercup asked.  
  
"You're a Powerpuff Girl Buttercup, you're NOT Batman! We're supposed to be a team and you go and do ALL of this behind our backs!" Blossom exclaimed angrily. "You even LIED to us about not getting anything from Princess' dad!" She yelled.  
  
"Hey I had my reasons okay? It was something I felt I had to take care of on my own!" Buttercup shot back as she stood up from the table, angry at being yelled at like this.  
  
"You should have at least told us what you were doing, we're a team and we have to trust each other! We would have let you do it on your own if you'd only told us what you were doing!" Blossom told her firmly.  
  
"You know, just because you're the 'leader' of the Powerpuff Girls doesn't mean you have to be such a bitch about it!" Blossoms mouth dropped wide in angry indignation while Bubbles put her hands over her mouth, her eyes going wide. The boys both just looked down at their cereal, not wanting to have any part of this. "You know, maybe there ARE things I would rather keep to myself! Maybe I don't want to tell you about everything I do, I have my privacy!"  
  
"Sure you can have your own personal life, but as far as crime fighting is concerned everything goes through ALL of us Buttercup! You, me and Bubbles, we all have to agree, GOT IT?" Blossom said firmly. Buttercup opened her mouth to argue, but Blossom leaned forward. "GOT IT?"  
  
"I GOT IT!" Buttercup shouted back angrily, her fists shaking with pent up anger. "Now if you'll excuse me oh great leader, I'm going to go outside now, IF I have your permission!" She shot out angrily, her eyes narrowed.  
  
"Go ahead and go, not like I could keep you here *Mange*!" Blossom shot back just as upset. Buttercup whirled away from her, throwing the front door open hard as she stalked outside. Silently Brick pushed himself up from the table to follow after her, leaving Bubbles, Blossom and Butch standing around the table blankly.  
  
Bubbles eyes stayed wide and frightened as Blossom plopped herself down into one of the seats, grabbing the box of cereal and pouring herself a bowl. The blond Powerpuff looked over at Butch for some sort of comfort but he was simply concentrating on his won cereal. Already Bubbles could tell this would be a very rocky time for the Powerpuff Girls... She hoped it'd blow over soon, but she knew that it probably wouldn't be that simple. She'd never seen her sisters fight it out like that, it scared her a lot to see it happen... oh she wished they cuold go back to the way they were years ago... But this was now, and there was no going back...  
  
THE END 


	3. 203- Very Bad Mojo

203- Very Bad Mojo  
  
  
Two weeks after Buttercup had taken down Frederick Morebucks, things were still tense around the Keane household. Blossom held firm that Buttercup had been wrong to go out on her own behind their backs, but Buttercup still maintained that she'd only done them good, and it didn't matter if she did it herself or with them. It would've been done either way. Bubbles tried her very best to remain neutral and stay out of the fighting, but many times she found herself dragged into it, and more often than not she would break down and leave the room in tears. Even Miss Keane had long since given up trying to talk to them or maintain order, nothing she could do could repair the rift that had grown between Buttercup and Blossom, and was still growing. It didn't help matters any at all that Buttercup had stopped responding to the hotline with the other girls; instead she prowled the streets as Mange apart from them. It was quickly becoming clear that the brunette Powerpuff didn't even see herself as a Powerpuff Girl anymore, but rather as Mange, the defender of the darkness as she called herself. Finally it'd gotten so bad that during their last big fight, Buttercup had declared herself as going solo as Mange, not even sleeping in the same room as the other Puffs.  
  
Miss Keane sighed and threw the newspaper she'd been reading on the table. She didn't know what to do about it all; the girls were breaking up. She always knew they'd have to separate eventually, but she'd always thought it'd be a nice, warm separation, not this blood feud. Now Buttercup had already gone solo, and Bubbles came crying to her far more often than she liked because of Blossom throwing fits and occasionally a piece of furniture.  
  
The newspaper she'd been reading had a picture of Mange on the cover, dealing with some bank robber or something with the caption 'Shadow Defends Townsville, defenders nowhere in sight'. This was one of the reasons Blossom was so upset. Buttercups projections let her travel faster than the Powerpuff Girls ever could in flight, so she reached any emergency she heard about well before the other girls and upstaged them every time. She was giving the Powerpuff Girls a very bad name, making her darker persona look much stronger and more vigilant.  
  
In all honestly Miss Keane was very afraid Buttercup was becoming too attached to her way of doing things as Mange. Her attitude was slowly becoming less caring, and it wasn't even about saving Townsville anymore. She simply wanted to show up her sisters. They might even come to blows soon if something didn't give. Brick stuck by his girlfriend through all of this though, probably the only reason Buttercup hadn't tried to do something really drastic like run away from home.  
  
The teacher put her head in her hands wearily, trying to think of a solution to all of this. She'd known the girls their whole lives and they'd never acted like this. Growing up was always hard on children, and sibling rivalry was always inevitable, but the superhero element added to it all was pushing the girls over the edge. They needed to stop and take a look around, stop being superheroes at least for awhile, but she knew they'd never agree to that...  
  
She looked up when she heard soft footsteps wandering toward her chair in the living room. Bubbles walked up to her with a sad frown on her face, her lip quivering while her eyes were watered over with unshed tears. One of the worst parts of this was that Bubbles wasn't even involved, but she seemed to be bearing the brunt of the fighting. Miss Keane reached down to gently pick her up and set her on her lap, hugging her gently like she often did.  
  
Something had to give soon or someone was going to get seriously hurt emotionally and physically. Someone had to cool the two girls down and get them to listen to each other, but that didn't look likely. For now they could only weather the storm and hope there'd be a brighter day up ahead.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
He leaned back in his easy chair, studying the picture in the newspaper very carefully. He'd been keeping an eye on this shadow that everyone was raving about, the one that was being declared Townsville's greatest defender. Even above the Powerpuff Girls. He was trying to figure out a way to get this thing on his side. From the way it moved it was obviously composed primarily of energy, so all he had to do was get a sample and he should be able to construct a device to control it.  
  
Mojo Jojo allowed himself a grin of satisfaction as he threw the newspaper to the side and got up, heading for his lab and equipment. All he needed was this things energy signature, so he simply had to wait until it struck again, then get to the scene and remove it from the unlucky criminal. Oh yes, with a hero more powerful than the Powerpuff Girls at his command, he would be unstoppable. Nothing would be able to stop him, and he would never be stopped, because he'd be invincible.  
  
He let out a sharp laugh in anticipation of his triumph as he closed the door to his lab behind him, getting to work on his evil plan.  
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The bank robber ducked into the alley as quickly as he could, leaning against the brick wall heavily and trying to catch his breath. He waited as silently as he could while the police darted by the entrance to the alley after him, not seeing him hidden in the shadows. He'd gotten lucky, the Powerpuff Girls hadn't shown up to see him leave, he knew if he just waited until noon he could escape before they showed up.  
  
He turned quickly when he heard a noise from somewhere in the alley. With a fumbling hand he grabbed a gun out of his belt, aiming it into the darkness. "Who's there!" He called with a shaky voice. With all the talk going around Townsville about a new defender, he wasn't prepared to simply wait and see what came.  
  
"Your worst f*cking nightmare." A voice replied in a dark grumble from somewhere in the shadows. A pair of dark green eyes opened in the darkness, peering at him maliciously. He opened fire in a blind panic, but the bullets plunged into nothing except for the brick wall hidden by the shadows. He took a few steps toward the entrance of the alley, his entire body shaking with fear.  
  
"Stay away... I'll shoot you!" He cried into the darkness, his voice cracking in mid-sentence as he tried to inch his way toward the street. He wasn't sure nobody was still looking for him, but he'd rather chance the cops than face this if even half the rumors were true. "I will but don't make me!"  
  
A tendril of the shadows seemed to wrap itself around his gun arm, trapping it firmly. He paused completely, slowly turning to look to the side where the pair of green eyes were glaring at him. "Bad manners to take what's not yours." The dark voice muttered to him just before the entire wall of shadows seemed to come to life, wrapping themselves around him tightly.  
  
He let out a muffled cry of surprise as he was lifted off the ground into the air, the shadows squeezing him tightly until finally he passed out amidst the fold of them.  
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Mange let the limp criminal fall to the sidewalk in front of the bank, surrounded by the money he'd stolen. He was still alive of course, but he was hopefully a bit wiser than he had been before. She looked up at the sky as a crimson and blue light trail streaked toward the bank to halt the robbery in progress. A small smirk crossed her lips as she waited for them on the overhang in front of the entrance to the building.  
  
"Little late." She told them in a low grumble when they arrived, looking up at them with eyes that glittered with satisfaction.  
  
Blossom turned red almost immediately, he fists clenching angrily at her sides. "Mange! I'm getting tired of this! Why do you ALWAYS have to try and show us up!" Blossom screamed angrily.  
  
"I guess the Powerpuff Girls are just not as good anymore." Mange replied with a hint of glee in her voice. "You can't cut it these days, good thing they have someone better to protect Townsville." She told them matter of factly.  
  
"Someone better?" Blossom seethed, glaring at her in an absolute rage. "You're not better Buttercup, you ARE a Powerpuff Girl whether you like it or not!" She yelled in frustration.  
  
"The name's Mange." The dark figure on the bank replied, her eyes narrowing irritably. "I am not a Powerpuff Girl, not anymore." She looked down to see the police finally making their way back to the bank and seeing the criminal on the ground. "I'm better." The cops looked up to see them, giving Mange a grateful wave before grabbing the criminal and dragging him off.  
  
"Any one of us could do what you've been doing but the day will come when you'll need help and we won't be there Mange!" Blossom yelled at her furiously.  
  
"I won't need your help, I can handle anything." Mange replied, standing up from her perch above the bank entrance. "So leave me alone to protect Townsville, you can both take permanent breaks." She told them as she turned to leave.  
  
"You know Brick's getting fed up with your attitude too!" Blossom yelled after her. "He just loves you too much to tell you that!"  
  
"You leave him out of it!" Mange yelled back angrily. "Just stay away from me." She growled as she vanished once again into the shadows of the alleyway. She didn't care what they thought anymore, she could defend this city by herself, and she didn't need them bossing her around and tagging along.  
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The two police officers dragged the still unconscious bank robber along the sidewalk toward the police station. They had a relatively easy job now, even easier than they had with just the Powerpuff Girls. They had might as well not even respond, that new hero always got the job done quickly and efficiently. All they had to do was clean up after him. They didn't even care who it really was, as long as he kept it up.  
  
In a moment both officers received a sudden jolt of energy surging through them. After a few moments of twitching they both fell to the ground limply, knocked unconscious. From a nearby alley Mojo Jojo emerged, grinning to himself as he put back two ray guns.  
  
"Now to attain the thing that will make me, Mojo Jojo, the leader of this new defender." He said to himself as he pulled out another device, unfolding it into a sort of scanner. He carefully placed it over the still unconscious bank robber, letting the scanner separate his energy signature from that of the one who'd attacked him. In only a few moments the energy had been isolated, and its frequency filed. "Yes, now all I have to do is build the device, and Townsville will tremble at my feet!" He yelled into the wind, laughing maliciously as he turned to head back to his fortress.  
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Brick looked down at his girlfriend on the couch beside him, more than a little bit worried about her. She'd been getting more and more distant lately, like she didn't care at all about him or either of her sisters. Even now while they were just watching TV together she had something of a dark look on her face, like she was simply waiting for something to happen so she could get out of there. It was more than a little disturbing; maybe he should just try and talk to her...  
  
"Buttercup, is something wrong?" He asked as gently as he possibly could. She turned to look up at him with that same look on her face, not even seeming really interested in him or what he thought.  
  
"Of course not, what would be?" She asked him simply. "I'm happier than ever going solo. No Blossom bossing me around, no Bubbles whining all the time, it's perfect." She said.  
  
"You haven't seemed like yourself lately though." He told her softly. "You've been so distant and... Well... Dark." He told her, regretting it almost instantly as her eyes narrowed at him.  
  
"You're one to talk about not being yourself." She shot back venomously. "Hey, was Blossom right? Are you really getting tired of me?" She asked him, folding her arms across her chest.  
  
"What? No of course not, that's silly." He told her. "But I am getting worried about you. You need to make up with Blossom and rejoin the Powerpuff Girls." He said firmly.  
  
"No!" Buttercup exclaimed immediately. "She's just jealous because when I'm Mange, I'm invincible. Heck I could kick hers AND Bubbles butts if I wanted to!" She proclaimed proudly, stick out her chest.  
  
"Listen to yourself! You could kick their butts? They're your sisters, this isn't like you." He told her, getting a bit upset himself. "You're acting like you don't need anybody, and that's just not true!"  
  
"I DON'T need anybody as Mange!" She shot back angrily.  
  
"Then I guess you don't need me either huh Buttercup?" Brick finally yelled. Buttercups eyes went wide at this, staring at him in surprise for a few moments.  
  
"No... I DON'T need you Brick!" She screamed back. "I don't need anybody! Just leave me alone!" Before he could reply she vanished in a green streak of light, heading upstairs to the bathroom across the hall from the girls' room, her only refuge from everybody. They were just being jealous, she knew. They didn't want her to be Mange because she was more powerful than the entire lot of them... THEY were at fault here... then why was she crying...  
  
A small sniffle escaped her as she sat on the toilet seat, folding her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She was the greatest superhero Townsville had ever seen, as Mange she was able to be anywhere, anytime, and do anything. She didn't need the Powerpuff Girls, and she didn't need a washed up Rowdyruff Boy either...  
  
Even as she made that thought she felt a tear slide out of one eye. She quickly wiped it away though; she had no reason to be sad. She was better than the rest of them... why should SHE be the one to cry over this...  
  
She perked up only slightly as the Powerpuff Hotline began to ring loudly. As she listened Blossom streaked into the girls' room, picking up the receiver.  
  
"Yes mayor?" There was a silence as she listened, Buttercup had super hearing but she couldn't hear a phone conversation from across the hall. "Mojo Jojo's back? We haven't even seen him in years!" Blossom exclaimed. There was another silence for a few moments. "We're on our way!" She exclaimed, slamming the receiver down before streaking off to find Bubbles.  
  
Mojo Jojo was back and wreaking havoc... This was her chance to prove once and for all that she didn't need them anymore. If she could take down Mojo on her own, nobody would be able to argue. Mange would be acknowledged as the greatest hero of Townsville. Even Blossom and Bubbles would have to admit she was better.  
  
So she closed her eyes, forcing herself out from her body as she'd learned to do. In a matter of moments Mange was flitting through the shadows, moving faster than the Powerpuff Girls could ever hope to. When she reached the place where Mojo was wreaking havoc she found a giant mechanical steel Mojo destroying things, with the real Mojo standing on the ground watching with a smirk of satisfaction on his face.  
  
"Back after so long Mojo Jojo?" She asked him in her dark voice. The monkey turned to face her, looking her up and down. "If I were you I would have stayed away." She told him, her bright green eyes pulsing a bit in the shadow of her head.  
  
"Actually, I never went anywhere, for I stayed right here in Townsville, perfecting my plans to destroy the Powerpuff Girls!" He announced. "And now, I have found it at last, and the Powerpuff Girls will be destroyed, because I have the ultimate plan to make them destroyed!" He said proudly.  
  
"In case you haven't noticed, I ain't no Powerpuff Girl." Mange told him.  
  
"No, you are not." He agreed with an evil grin. "You are Townsville's newest defender, you are the shadow that stalks in the night, you are one of the newest thorns of justice embedded in the hiney of evil, you are... Mine!" He announced as the giant Mojo turned toward her, a compartment opening in its chest. Before Mange could react a stream of electrical energy plunged into her. The power surged through her painfully; feeling like it was going to shred her body in a few moments.  
  
"You... Stupid... monkey..." She grunted painfully as the power continued to flow through her even after the robots chest had closed up. She tried to move, but her spiritual body wouldn't respond. She found she couldn't even withdraw into her real body, she was trapped.  
  
"No, actually I am a very smart monkey. You see, with you on my side, the Powerpuff Girls will not stand a chance!" He said with an evil laugh. "And I, Mojo Jojo will be the most powerful villain in the world!" He announced proudly.  
  
"Like... I'd ever... help you..." Mange said, struggling to move even a little bit. She couldn't though, it was like her body was just locked in place, and the energy that seeped into her felt like cement inside of her.  
  
"Oh but you will. Because I am a genius!" Mojo replied. "Now come over here, the Powerpuff Girls will be here any moment." He told her. To her surprise her body listened to him, moving easily to wait beside him, facing toward the girls' house to wait for Blossom and Bubbles. As he'd anticipated, in only a few more moments the Powerpuff girls arrived, balking a little bit when they saw her there with him.  
  
"Mange!?" She exclaimed in shock. "What do you think you're doing!?" Blossom demanded.  
  
"Not... Me..." Mange tried to reply, but the energy's grip on her was becoming stronger, she couldn't even speak above a whisper.  
  
"Hello Powerpuff Girls. You are just in time to meet your doom because I, Mojo Jojo, have recruited Mange to help my wave of evil to defeat you, thereby making me, Mojo Jojo, the one who will have defeated you and taken over the world!" He told them with an evil grin. "Now then Mange, DISPOSE OF THEM!" He shouted, glaring up at the two girls.  
  
Instantly Mange's body responded of its own accord, throwing itself at the two Powerpuff Girls floating in the air. They both threw themselves to the side, narrowly avoiding her and whirling to face her again. "Don't do this Mange!" Bubbles pleaded.  
  
"It's useless Bubbles, she's under Mojo's control. We have to take her down!" Blossom exclaimed, raising her fists in front of her. She sounded almost eager for the fight as she threw herself at the shadowy figure. They collided in mid-air, Blossom throwing a barrage of punches while Mange's dark essence swirled and waved like a group of tentacles around her.  
  
Quickly the tentacles wrapped themselves around Blossoms body, holding her tightly enough to render her completely immobile. One tendril even wrapped itself around her face, cutting off her air supply completely. She struggled against the darkness as it engulfed her, but there was little she could do.  
  
"BLOOSSSOOOOOOOMM!" Bubbles screamed in a panic, her voice reaching a piercingly high octave as her sonic power activated on reflex. Mange twitched and shuddered at the sonic wave swept through her body, disrupting the control Mojo's energy had over for a brief period. It quickly regained its hold though before she could turn back to normal.  
  
"We will have none of that!" Mojo yelled, taking out a control for his Mecha-Mojo and pressing a few buttons. Bubbles whirled just before the giant robot grabbed her, squeezing her as tightly as it could. She struggled against it and managed to push the fingers out slightly, but the robot plunged its fist into the asphalt, stopping her struggles right there for a time.  
  
Mange's eyes narrowed as she felt her sisters struggling slow down, her breath doing the same as she slowly suffocated under the weight of the dark shadows that held her. Finally she fell unconscious completely in her grip, going totally limp. The specter raised Blossom in her darkness before hurling her into the side of a building to get her out of the way. The wall gave way easily and Blossom collapsed to the floor, buried underneath the rubble.  
  
"Ooohhh..." Bubbles groaned as she regained consciousness, seeing the giant Mecha-Mojo hovering over her, holding her to the ground. To her side Mojo was busy celebrating his victory while Mange simply hovered in the air, staring at the broken in wall. In the pile of rubble she saw Blossoms hand sticking out limply. "Blossom!" She exclaimed worriedly.  
  
"No! Mange, take her too!" Mojo demanded quickly. Bubbles looked up as the dark figure turned to head toward her, the pulsing green eyes no longer showing any signs of recognition.  
  
Bubbles looked up at the robot, still holding her in place while Mange advanced on her. "No... come on..." She whispered to herself, trying to consciously activate the power she'd used twice before by reflex. Her eyes pulsed with crimson power, but she didn't let it fly. Instead she let out a scream, directing it at the robot that still held her down.  
  
The crimson pulse tore into it easily, punching a hole right through the steel chest. The hand that held her lost its grip as the thing slowly began to fall forward onto her.  
  
She streaked out from under it in a blue pinpoint of light, zipping right by Mange as her darkness reached out to try and grab her. Bubbles proved to be too quick though, reaching Blossom in a moment and beginning to dig her out. "Come on... hold on... we have to get out of here." She told the leader of the Powerpuff Girls as she hurled the debris off of her.  
  
"Hurry up and get them before they escape!" Mojo howled at Mange, angry at having his robot now lifeless in the middle of the street. Mange approached Bubbles slowly, the dark tendrils of her essence flowing around her like they had a life of their own. The blond Powerpuff Girl pawed frantically at the mound of rubble still, desperately trying to free her sister.  
  
"Got you!" Bubbles cried victoriously as she lifted her unconscious sister from the rubble, turning to see the dark form of Mange descending upon them. She suddenly tried to streak past the shadows, dodging and darting through them as they tried to get a hold of her almost like a throng of snakes. Luckily she managed to maneuver through the tendrils and streak off toward the Powerpuff Girls home.  
  
Mange began to give chase, but a word from Mojo stopped her. "Wait!" He told her, staring after the retreating Powerpuffs in amazement. "I've won..." He slowly brightened, smiling more and more evilly. "I have finally defeated the Powerpuff Girls!" He howled with laughter, throwing his hands into the air. "Townsville will TREMBLE at the name Mojo Jojo, for it will be I, Mojo Jojo, who will control Townville because I have defeated the defenders of Townsville making I, Mojo Jojo, the strongest villain in history!" He howled with laughter again, the sound carrying all through the streets. A very ill omen for the entire city.  
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"What do we do Miss Keane? Professor Tuyoma?" Bubbles worried voice drifted down into the darkness of Blossoms unconsciousness as she lay there, trying to revive herself. She could remember facing Mange... Then she'd passed out for some reason. Where was she, was she captured? Or was she... maybe... dead?  
  
"We've tried to wake up Buttercup, but she's not responding to anything." Professor Tuyoma's calm, assuring voice came from above her, so she knew she wasn't dead. "Neither is Blossom, whatever Mange did it had quite an effect." She continued calmly.  
  
"Could we try talking to Mange? Maybe Buttercup could wake up and take control again." Miss Keane suggested.  
  
"From what I can tell from the data I gathered from Bubbles and the energy signature attached to Blossom, it looks like she is awake. She just doesn't have control of herself. She's awake behind the wheel, but someone's stolen her car." Professor Tuyoma told them gently. So Mange WAS being controlled... That was very reassuring. She didn't want to think Buttercup would really become a villain...  
  
"Uuuhhn..." Blossom groaned slightly as she opened her eyes, closing them quickly against the light. She put one hand painfully to her head, trying to squeeze herself back into consciousness.  
  
"Blossom! You're okay!" Bubbles shrieked happily, grabbing her and hugging her tightly. "Oh I was so scared, I was alone and Mange was there and I flew back here but Buttercup won't wake up and Brick was worried and Miss Keane and... and..." She said, speaking at about a mile a second. Blossom put one hand on her head, smiling reassuringly as she finally managed to force her eyes open half way. Her blond sister had tear streaks down her cheeks, but she looked extremely relieved.  
  
"I'll be fine... Don't worry about me." Blossom said with more confidence than she felt. She felt like she'd collapse again at any moment, but she wouldn't tell her sister that.  
  
"Good to see you awake again Blossom, I'm very glad you're alright." Miss Keane told her with a warm smile. "I knew you would be though, you're so strong. We were just discussing what to do about Mange." She said.  
  
"Mojo Jojo and her have already driven the mayor out of City Hall and taken it over." Brick told her from the floor beside the couch where Buttercup lay unmoving. "We can't think of anything we can do..."  
  
"Well there might be one thing..." Professor Tuyoma remarked, removing her glasses so she could clean them. "You said Mange looked like she was almost in pain when you used you sonic powers Bubbles?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, she started twitching and it looked like she was being 'lectrocuted." Bubbles replied seriously.  
  
"Got any idea why that is Professor?" Miss Keane asked curiously.  
  
"Hmm... Well Mange's body is pure energy, projected from Buttercups mind... almost like a television image. Well those images can be disrupted by radio signals sometimes, perhaps if we bombard her with an intense enough radio frequency she would dissipate completely, along with any control Mojo has over her." Professor Tuyoma said.  
  
"But nothing like that happened, she just twitched." Bubbles said.  
  
"Then we need to up the frequency even more..." Pathrisha said as she got up from her chair, waking over to look out the window. "Of course, nobody else would be able to be in range of such high frequencies... it could cause irreparable brain damage."  
  
"Where could we generate those frequencies in the middle of the city without anybody else hearing anything?" Miss Keane asked worriedly. "It's impossible."  
  
"No... We just need something soundproof... And with very big speakers for Bubbles to use." As Professor Tuyoma spoke her gaze wandered over to the domed football stadium in the middle of the city. "The only problem is getting Mange to go inside." She said.  
  
"I guess that'll be my job..." Blossom muttered. "Well whatever it takes... Nobody brainwashes my sister and gets away with it!" She proclaimed, standing up and putting up one fist.  
  
"Yeah!" Bubbles agreed vehemently, standing up and striking a similar pose. "We're the Powerpuff Girls and we stick together, no matter what!"  
  
"I'll help too." Brick said, standing up along with them. "I don't have any powers anymore, but it doesn't mean I'm useless." He said.  
  
"I may have just the thing for you Brick, just in case of an emergency." Professor Tuyoma told him before turning to look around at the three of them. "Alright then, here's the plan." She said as they all huddled around except for Buttercup, who was still lying lifeless on the couch. Hopefully soon they'd be able to bring her back though, and get rid of Mojo.  
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Blossom flew up close under the window of City Hall, simply hovering and listening to Mojo gloating victoriously inside. She simply waited patiently for the signal from Professor Tuyoma that Bubbles was in place at the football stadium. She hoped this worked, her and Buttercup were fighting lately, but the last thing she wanted as for anything to happen to her sister.  
  
She looked down as the two way radio on her waist came on. "Blossom, Bubbles is in position, proceed with the plan." Professor Tuyoma's voice told her firmly. Blossom turned it off and crept up higher to the window, peeking in to see Mange and Mojo Jojo both inside.  
  
She floated up a little higher, her eyes glowing softly with the energy of her heat rays. First though she gently breathed on the glass, fogging it up and coating the outside with a thin sheet of ice. Then she pulled back slightly and let her eye beams fire. They pierced through the glass easier, sending it shattering inward and startling the two villains inside.  
  
"Catch me if you can Mojo Dorko!" Blossom taunted, thrusting her hips mockingly before turning to streak away from him quickly.  
  
"After her!" Mojo demanded, sending Mange flitting out of the office after the lone Powerpuff Girl. As she flew Blossom looked back to make sure Mange was following... but she saw nothing, not even a trail of where she had gone.  
  
She stopped to look around, fearing she might have gotten the drop on Blossom, but she didn't see anything anywhere. Everything was perfectly still in the street, not even any cars zoomed by underneath her as she simply hovered there, keeping a sharp eye out.  
  
Without warning Mange lunged out of the shadows of a nearby alley, her dark tendrils of energy stretching toward Blossom menacingly. Blossom turned to get away, but the shadows managed to grab a hold of her, wrapping tightly around her entire body.  
  
Blossom let out a squeal until something slammed into Mange, sending her hurtling back into the wall of a nearby building. The leader of the Powerpuff Girls looked around quickly; spotting Butch perched on a nearby rooftop with a hand bazooka. It was actually a solar-powered pulse pistol, designed by Professor Tuyoma and built by whoever was still friendly with her down at TekTron.   
  
Blossom gave him a quick smile of thanks before taking off down the street again. She had to stay away from Mange now that she knew her sisters dark half was following. She had to throw herself to the side several times as her sister popped out of shadows and alleys ahead of her. Right now Blossom thought that maybe Buttercup had a reason to think she was stronger than the Powerpuff Girls, this was getting to be nearly impossible to avoid.  
  
While she was thinking Mange managed to wrap one dark tendril around her leg, halting her flight very suddenly. The stadium was just down the street, she could see it. She had to get there. She tried to break free, but Mange wrapped more tendrils around her, pulling her back into the waiting darkness that made up her body.  
  
Finally Blossom whirled, taking a deep breath into her lungs. When she exhaled a thin sheet of ice covered the tendrils that held her, freezing them into place since they couldn't move out of the way while Mange was holding onto her. The tendrils snapped off as the Powerpuff Girl streaked away from the shadow, reaching the stadium without being caught again.  
  
She looked back through the main entrance to see Mange floating after her. By now it didn't look like her sister at all, little more than a dark, living mass of shadows with emotionless dark green eyes in the middle of it. It was almost scary to think that that was actually Buttercup...  
  
Quickly Blossom whirled to run down the hall, reaching for the two-way radio at her side again. "Professor Tuyoma, we're in the building." She said into it, never ceasing her run.  
  
"Lure her into the main stadium and shut her in, Bubbles will take care of the rest after that." The professor's voice came back calmly over the radio. "Just make sure you close the door tightly behind you, you wouldn't want to hear this." She reminded.  
  
"Got it professor." She replied. It felt kind of odd calling someone other than her Professor professor sometimes, but she was getting used to it.  
  
She whirled in surprise as Mange leapt out at her from one of the side halls, slamming her to the floor and wrapping the tendrils around her tightly. Thinking fast, Blossom started to whirl in place, sucking Mange in like a tornado before flinging herself and the specter into the main stadium floor.  
  
They were in the stadium now, but Mange held Blossom in a death-grip, her tendrils of shadow wrapped around every part of her, partly because Blossom had been dumb enough to go into a spin and wrap them even tighter than before. The leader of the Powerpuff Girls gasped a bit as the shadow raised one fist, a ring of spikes shooting out of the darkness.  
  
Blossom grabbed the fist just before Mange brought them down, straining to keep the spikes away from her face while her opponent struggled to make them hit home.  
  
"Bubbles!" She gasped out as loudly as she could as the spikes snapped shut mere inches in front of her face. "Do it!" She yelled out, grunting with the effort of holding Manges spikes at bay.  
  
"I can't Blossom, not with you in there!" Bubbles replied, her voice sounding over the intercom instead of the radio. It sounded rather loud even without her voice going sonic, it would be one heck of a blast when she did use her powers.  
  
"You have to! I can't get away from her, if you don't do something she's going to kill me!" Blossom yelled out as the spikes lowered another centimeter. Blossom was certainly strong, but she couldn't keep up her strength indefinitely. Mange was just as strong, but had limitless endurance and quite probably could keep it up indefinitely.  
  
Mange's eyes went wide with surprise when someone grabbed her from behind by the throat, heaving her off of Blossom and throwing her almost halfway across the stadium. "Sorry Buttercup!" Brick called out to her. Blossom blinked in surprise, at first thinking he'd gotten his powers back. Then she realized he was wearing armor... The strength-enhancing armor Princess had used... but how could he get some?  
  
Mange never even hit the ground, simply hovering right side up about a foot off the ground, glaring at them emotionlessly. "Let's get out of here..." Brick said softly, backing away from her. Blossom couldn't argue, so they both whirled and ran for the entrance of the stadium, running as fast as they possibly could.  
  
Within seconds however Mange appeared in front of them, wrapping tendrils around the both of them tightly. She listed them both into the air, glaring up at them with those pulsing emotionless eyes as her tendrils squeezed even tighter, crushing Brick's armor like a tin can. He cried out in pain as it bit into his skin, drawing blood.  
  
Blossom whimpered in pain too, this was the third time today she'd gotten this treatment, and she was really beginning to wear down. She didn't think she'd even be able to move soon if this kept up.  
  
Mange simply stared up at them, both of them groaning in pain and struggling vainly to free themselves. Somewhere deep inside Buttercup was frightened, of what she was doing and that she couldn't stop. For the first time in her life as a Powerpuff Girl she was scared out of her mind and didn't know what to do. She was about to kill both of them; Brick was already bleeding... She had to do something...  
  
"GO!" Mange howled suddenly, throwing Blossom and Brick at the entrance to the stadium. They left the room alright, but they also shattered the door that had swung itself closed. It lay on the ground in splinters while the specter knelt on the ground, trying to do anything but what her body wanted to do.  
  
"Ugh... We're okay..." Brick whispered painfully, looking around him to make sure he hadn't died and just didn't know it yet.  
  
"Blossom!" Professor Tuyoma's voice came over the radio again. "You have to fix that door right now before she loses control again!" She said urgently.  
  
Blossom sighed a bit tired out herself, but she pushed herself to her feet dutifully. "Rest when you're dead Brick, we still have work to do." She told him, putting out one hand to help him to his feet. They then ran down the hall in search of anything they could use to patch the door well enough to at least keep most of the sound in. they didn't have time to make it completely soundproof.  
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Bubbles watched everything through the monitors that showed views of the entire field. Mange wasn't moving, keeping herself right at that spot lest she do something she'd regret. The blond Powerpuff hated having to just sit here out of the way while Blossom and Brick took all the risks, and normally she would go down to help in an instant, but she was needed right here once everything started going by the plan again.  
  
Without warning the door opened with a loud crash and a figure stepped in, holding up a red laser aimed straight at Professor Tuyoma. "Do not move, or else I, Mojo Jojo, will end her life with this laser I have created for ending lives that get in my way of taking over the world for which I will end lives." Mojo told her evilly. "Move away from the speaker." He said as he grabbed Professor Tuyoma.  
  
"'Trisha!" Bubbles shouted in alarm. "Let her go Mojo Jojo!" Bubbles shouted angrily.  
  
"No I do not believe I will, because then you would only beat me up, and I do not like getting beat up so I will not let you beat me up. Now go stand by the wall, or else I will fire and your new professor will be dead by this laser I have built to kill people that get in my way like you and her are doing right now." He told her.  
  
She narrowed her eyes a bit, but moved away from the console, praying she could find an opening to get rid of Mojo before Mange went under his control again. Blossom was counting on her; she couldn't let her down.  
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"There, that does it." Blossom said with satisfaction as she stepped back to survey hers and Bricks handiwork. Quickly she reached down to grab the radio, turning it on. "We're ready down here Bubbles, let it rip." She said. They waited a few moments, but nothing seemed to happen, they got no reply. "Bubbles, we're done. You can do it now..."  
  
"I do not believe that would be best Powerpuff Girl." Blossom gasped as Mojo Jojo's voice came back over the radio. "Now I would recommend that you leave if you do not wish to become Powerpuff Paste." He said, laughing evilly even as the barricade they'd built over the door broke outward, sending debris flying everywhere.  
  
"No, she's under control again!" Brick wailed in dismay as the shadow broke through the rest of the debris, moving toward them. It now looked nothing like it once had, simply a formless shadow moving through the air toward them. Even the green eyes were gone now; all semblance of humanity was nonexistent.  
  
"We'll get you for this Mojo!" Blossom yelled angrily into the radio before she dropped it uselessly, backing away from the shadow as it advanced on her and Brick. The two heroes lunged to the sides as the shadow thrust its tendrils at them, punching holes easily through the wall and floor behind them.  
  
"What do we do now Blossom..." Brick asked her softly, staring at the shadow with frightened eyes. Frightened more because he knew Buttercup was behind it somewhere than because he was afraid he'd be hurt.  
  
"Get away from THEM!" A voice howled angrily as a green streak plunged by Blossom and Brick, slamming into the shadow and sending them both sailing back into the stadium. The two redheads got up slowly to move to the door, looking in amazement as Buttercup grappled with the shadow that should have been her.  
  
"Buttercup!?" Brick exclaimed in amazement.  
  
"Get out of here and seal the room..." Buttercup told them as she strained to fight off the darkness around her. "I'll hold it here... you get out now!" She screamed at them.  
  
"No way!" Blossom yelled back purposefully. "We're helping! Come on Brick!" The two began to move toward the fight.  
  
"GET OUT!" Buttercup screamed at them. "I can take it, now get out!" Buttercup howled, staring at them with half-closed eyes. Her heat vision slammed into them with astonishing force, throwing both of them out of the room itself. She grappled with Mange then, staring into the darkness that had come from her, it was strange. She'd gone solo thinking she was better, but here she had to fight herself to keep from hurting anybody she loved...  
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"No no!" Mojo howled angrily, staring at the screen as his face turned beet red. "I am supposed to win! You cannot stop her, because I will be the victor!" He screamed furiously. A soft tap on his shoulder prompted him to turn around curiously.  
  
"You looked away!" Bubbles exclaimed just before she proceeded to beat the crap out of him, planting punches and kicks everywhere she could reach. In only a few moments the mad monkey slammed into the console, sliding to the ground with a groan of utter pain and defeat. She didn't even look at the monitor, she was supposed to have done her part long ago, so she had to do it.  
  
She streaked up to the speaker and flipped it on, taking a deep breath. Soon she let out a piercing scream right into the microphone, causing the entire building to start shaking violently as the speakers in the stadium amplified it.  
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"BUTTERCUP!" Brick screamed, clutching his head as the high pitched squeal came over the speakers. He tried to go in and get her, bring her out again, but he could barely move the sound was so intense. He felt like his head was being crushed under the pressure. He couldn't keep a scream of pain from escaping his lips, no matter how he tried.  
  
Blossom stumbled over to the still open door and took a breath, blowing a thick sheet of ice over it to protect her and Brick. There was nothing she could do for Buttercup under those conditions, Blossom herself might have survived because she was a Powerpuff, but Brick would not have.  
  
"No, open it up!" Brick howled, throwing himself at the ice. Blossom grabbed him before he could slam into it, holding him back.  
  
"We have to wait until the scream dies down." She told him. They could both still hear the scream sounding loudly through the halls, despite being contained within the soundproofed stadium. She couldn't imagine what it was like inside... she just hoped Buttercup would be alright...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Her head felt like it was on FIRE. Bubbles' scream was amplified by the speakers, and the speakers were amplified by the completely empty and large room they were in. The sheer intensity of it felt like it was crushing her brain even as she still fought against Mange, who seemed to be pulsing viciously as they fought. After a few moments the shadowy form flung itself off of her, twitching and pulsing spastically under he weight of the intense noise.  
  
"No you don't..." Buttercup's soft whisper never even seemed to have existed in the blanket of noise that covered them as she threw herself at her shadow, tackling it to the ground again. They rolled on the ground as Mange pulsed wildly, the tendrils of shadow flying in random patterns around its dark form.  
  
Buttercup gasped as one tendril plunged into her arm... but it didn't hurt. It simply pushed its way underneath her skin. In the back of her mind she could still feel Mange's pain, she was hurting more than anything as Mojo's control was broken down by the constant barrage. She wanted somewhere to be safe, she didn't want to be separate anymore, she wanted to be one...  
  
Buttercups eyes widened as the entire body of the shadow plunged itself into her, sending surges of power running through her entire body. She fell to the ground, rolling in sheer pain as she would feel Mange still struggling with the control inside of her. For a few moments she caught sight of her hand, no longer hers, but a dark shadow holding the ground in pain.  
  
Finally the sound died out and she collapsed to the ground limply. Her entire body was wracked with pain, though whether it was Mange or Buttercup who was in such distress, she couldn't figure out. Mange had always been simply her controlling another body... but now something had changed... She couldn't figure it out...  
  
These thoughts plagued her mind until she finally lost consciousness.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Professor Tuyoma... what happened to her... none of this makes sense..." Blossom asked as her, the professor, Miss Keane, Bubbles, Brick, and Butch all stood around Buttercup, who was lying on the couch unconscious.  
  
"I've run some tests... and it would seem that Mojo's plan to take over Mange worked... but he didn't know Mange was simply another part of Buttercups mind." Professor Tuyoma explained. "In a sense, Buttercup and Mange were separated... but Mange needed Buttercup to exist. When Buttercup woke up due to her desire to save you and Brick, Mange was under Mojo's complete control..." She said.  
  
"So what happened to Mange... what's gonna happen to Buttercup?" Brick asked worriedly.  
  
"Bubbles' sonic powers disrupted Mange's body as we'd anticipated... but in self defense she pushed herself inside of Buttercups body. It would appear that Mojo Jojo's device not only controlled Mange's body, but in order to wake herself up and fight herself, Buttercup had to leave a piece of herself in Mange..."  
  
"So what you're saying is... She's a schizo now." Butch said simply. Everyone else turned to glare at him darkly, but nobody argued with that statement.  
  
"There are two personalities inside her... and two sets of powers... Those of Mange and Buttercup... in a way, two different people." The professor conceded. Before anyone else could say anything Buttercup groaned, opening her eyes halfway to look around her curiously.  
  
"Brick...?" She asked softly, her eyes finally meeting Brick's. He hadn't left her side since they'd gotten back.  
  
"I'm here... You're fine." He told her gently, putting one hand through her hair. She smiled slightly then looked past him at Blossom and Bubbles, both of whom still looked extremely worried.  
  
"Blossom... I'm sorry for everything I said... and everything I did..." She said apologetically. Obviously, this whole ordeal had had quite an effect on her.  
  
"It's alright... I said a few things I shouldn't have too." Blossom replied.  
  
"Yeah, we need you Buttercup." Bubbles said with an innocent smile. "We're a team."  
  
Buttercup smiled at that and nodded. "Yeah, a team." She agreed, turning her gaze up to Brick. "I'm sorry to you too..."  
  
"Don't worry 'bout it, just feel better." He told her softly. She caused a lot of trouble today, but nobody truly blamed her. She'd gotten angry, and so had her sisters, it happened all the time to siblings. In the end though, as it always was, The Powerpuff girls would never truly split up.  
  
THE END 


	4. Side Story- Breakdown

Breakdown (Side Story)  
  
  
The school bell rang loudly through the entire school, prompting the kids to all rush to their seats. The Powerpuff Girls were seated in the front row, being too small to see over the other kids if they'd been in the back. The two former Rowdyruff Boys though sat somewhere in the middle, not sharing the girls' size handicap. The teacher came into the room at the tone of the bell, as she usually did.  
  
"Good morning class." Their fourth grade teacher, Miss Fauxman, said as she laid her papers out on the table. She had hard brown eyes and blond hair tinted with a hint of gray as she looked around at her class intently. The kids liked her about as much as they liked any teacher really. "I hope you're all ready to do a lot of giggling and whispering because today we begin something that will affect you in within the next couple of years." She announced.  
  
"Oh yuck..." Buttercup stuck out her tongue disgustedly, she knew what was coming. She'd gotten a quick crash course in it from Miss Keane when she'd sat the girls down to talk about the 'birds and the bees'. Something about babies being inside girls, that had been kind of disgusting to all three of them. They'd sworn right then and there to never want children of their own... Well Buttercup had, Bubbles and Blossom hadn't seem quite THAT bothered by it.  
  
The rest of the class though seemed to perk up immeasurably from the usual bored expressions they gave to class announcements. In this day and age younger and younger kids were learning about this stuff on their own, so the school district had decided to teach kids about it younger, get a head start on making them responsible about it. Buttercup just sighed and rested her chin on her hand bored; this was useless information to her. Hopefully the day would go by fast so they could get out of there.  
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About ten minutes later the entire building began to shake as a stampede of girls rushed fearfully through the halls of Townsville elementary. Miss Fauxman wasn't the most gentile teacher at all, and the truth hurt sometimes. So did her lesson this morning, as she'd spent most of the time they were actually in class talking about how much the girls' first times would hurt. More than half of the girls in class has sworn themselves to celibacy by the seventh minute. By ten she had them all convinced every boy in class was just out to hunt them down.  
  
The Powerpuff Girls just calmly floated out after the stampede, scratching the back of their heads confusedly as they watches their female classmates disappear into the distance.  
  
"Something tells me this doesn't bode well for the rest of the year." Blossom commented, staring after the throng of girls. They were probably all at home getting their teacher fired.  
  
"Ah it gets us outta school early, why are you complaining?" Buttercup said.  
  
"SOME of us like to learn Buttercup, you might want to try it." Blossom told her irritably. They hadn't even gotten into the lesson itself about how babies were actually made. They just knew where it was before it was born and that most boys only wanted to hurt girls in ways they could never imagine.  
  
"We could always just ask Miss Keane about it. I'm sure she knows." Bubbles volunteered, floating between her sisters. The blood feud had ended when they'd all apologize, but Bubbles was still very careful about letting her sisters argue for any reason.  
  
"Yeah, you're right Bubbles." Blossom said quickly, ending the argument right then and there. When it had all ended Miss Keane had sat her and Buttercup down and told them what they'd been doing to Bubbles. They'd sworn not to fight again unless it was extremely important... like a life-or-death situation, which this really was not.  
  
"Yeah, I guess we can." Buttercup agreed, turning to float toward their house. "Let's go then." She said. The other two turned to follow her back to their house. She was really just glad to be out of school, give them the day off for once. They rarely got those. School on weekdays, monster attacks on weekends; it was hard to find time to relax.  
  
When they got home they found Miss Keane in the kitchen, making herself something for lunch. "Oh girls, you're home early." She said, sounding a bit surprised.  
  
"Yeah, we need to talk to you." Buttercup told her firmly, getting an elbow in the ribs from Blossom. "Ow! What was that for?"  
  
"You make it sound like we're interrogating her. We just want to talk." Blossom told her.  
  
"What do you girls want to know?" Miss Keane asked, taking off her apron and turning off the stove so she could pay attention to the girls.  
  
"We wanna know where babies come from." Bubbles announced before either of the others could say anything.  
  
"I just told you a few weeks ago." Miss Keane said.  
  
"Yeah but we wanna know how it gets there. It doesn't make sense, I sure don't want to swallow any babies..." Blossom said, turning a bit green just at the thought. The teacher giggled a bit at this, putting her hands on the girls' backs and leading them into the living room.  
  
"Don't worry Blossom you don't have to swallow anything." Miss Keane said, sitting the girls down on the couch while she took the chair beside it. "Now you see girls..." She said, trying to think of a good way to put it. She was a teacher, but she never really had to answer questions like this with a kindergarten class. Normally she'd tell the kids to ask their mommy's, but she WAS the mommy here.  
  
"Yes?" All three girls pushed, even Buttercup looked a bit curious at this.  
  
"Well... Um..." all her years of teaching and she still couldn't think of just the right way to put it. "You know how boys have... um... things girls don't have?" She asked.  
  
"What?" Blossom and Bubbles said curiously.  
  
"Ah, you mean a penis." Buttercup blurted out, causing all three of the others to stare at her in shock. Even Buttercup herself blinked at this. "That wasn't me, it was Mange!" She said. "Like I'd know about what a boys body looks like, yucko!" She exclaimed.  
  
"I wonder how Mange knows what it looks like..." Blossom said drolly.  
  
"Ahem..." Miss Keane said, drawing the girls attention again. "Anyway, yes... uh... Mange, that's what I meant. Boys have... those and when a boy and a girl are old enough and they love each other... They... Um..." She faltered, trying to find a way to say it without saying it.  
  
"The boy puts his penis in the girls vagina and in the morning there's a bun in the oven." Buttercup blurted out again, instantly looking totally disgusted. "YUCK! SICK!" She screamed. Blossom and Bubbles didn't look much better, both of them turning a bright, bright orange.  
  
"Okay young lady, I demand to know how you knew that!" Miss Keane said, glaring down at Buttercup.  
  
"It wasn't ME! It was Mange!" Buttercup complained.  
  
"She couldn't know now what you didn't know before." Miss Keane reasoned.  
  
"I don't know, she's up when I'm asleep, maybe she snuck off to a library or something." Buttercup said, trying to take the heat off of her. "Hah, I'm just smarter than all three puffs put together!" She laughed, her voice lowering to the tone Buttercup really only used as Mange before.  
  
Miss Keane angrily grabbed Buttercup/Mange and lifted her up. She really couldn't have overpowered the Powerpuff Girl OR the specter, but neither would hurt their 'mommy'. "Now you stop playing around with Buttercup, do you hear me Mange? I don't want you messing up her mind! She's impressionable!" She demanded angrily. Technically Mange was just as young as the Powerpuff Girls, but she embodied all of the feelings Buttercup had felt, and had yet to feel, including the rebelliousness and anxiety of teens, so acted much, much older.  
  
"Yeah yeah, whatever 'mommy'." Mange said in her typically dark tone of voice. In a moment Buttercup blinked again, looking a bit dazed and confused. She spoke in her normal tone of voice. "Okay I think she stopped..." She said softly. Miss Keane sighed and set her down on the couch again gently. It was hard having two people in her head, for everyone, but they managed.  
  
"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted..." Miss Keane said, turning to the still stunned Blossom and Bubbles. "... I think I was about to tell you girls the truth... which is... uh..." She stuttered again, then finally sighed. "Well Mange was right, that's how it's done." She admitted.  
  
"But... But doesn't that hurt?" Bubbles asked innocently, crossing her legs in an anticipating twinge of pain.  
  
"Well... a little... At first..." She admitted, actually getting kind of flustered herself. She'd always considered complete honesty the best policy, but she wasn't quite sure WHAT to say here. "But don't worry about that right now girls, it will be a long time before you have to deal with that..." She assured them.  
  
"But I don't get it, so that happens, then what? That alone doesn't get a woman pregnant does it?" Blossom asked, always the voice of curiosity.  
  
"Please God don't make me get technical..." Miss Keane pleaded softly, trying to think of a way to appease their curiosity without resorting to being completely blunt about it. "Well... Blossom... After that... happens... Um..." she hesitated, not sure if she should just come right out and say it.  
  
"Semen!" Bubbles exclaimed suddenly, startling Miss Keane.  
  
"What!?" She yelled, staring at Bubbles in shock.  
  
"On the TV, semen are on the TV." She yelled happily. Miss Keane looked to see Buttercup had turned on the TV, having grown bored with Miss Keane's fumbled explanations. Indeed, on the TV were a group of sailors sailing a boat on the sea... seamen.  
  
Miss Keane let out a sigh as she walked over to turn the TV off, drawing a complaint from Buttercup. "Do you want to know where babies come from or not?" She asked, hoping she'd say not.  
  
"Of course." Buttercup replied smartly. "But you're not telling us."  
  
"Well if you'll listen I am..." The adult replied, clearing her throat before looking over the three girls again. "Now... Blossom, to answer your question... well..." She again searched for just the right way to put it, but couldn't find it anywhere in her brain.  
  
"Come on, it can't be THAT hard if everyone on the planet does it." Buttercup grumped.  
  
"Um, Miss Keane?" Bubbles asked innocently, raising her hand almost instinctively. She never had gotten out of the habit of treating her like a teacher sometimes, especially during family meetings. "Well most girls become big girls with big tummies for babies... but we're still little tiny girls, with little tiny tummies, so will WE be able to have babies?" She asked.  
  
"Well... Uhm..." Miss Keane stuttered. She'd never thought of that before, the girls wouldn't grow up, would it even be physically possible for them to have children? She'd guess not normally, but the girls had shown some extraordinary abilities in the past nobody expected. She couldn't even guess.  
  
"Well how does the baby get in there? Is it like implanted like an alien probe or what?" Blossom asked, still wanting an answer.  
  
"Ah tell me when you stop mumbling." Buttercup said, grabbing the remote and switching the TV on again.  
  
"I really like cute little babies so will I be able to have one some day?" Bubbles asked. They all kept on at once until Miss Keane could barely take it anymore.  
  
"Okay, ssssssshhhhhhhh!" She hissed loudly, silencing the girls who just stared at her curiously. She quickly turned off the TV and yanked the remote from Buttercups hands, slamming it on the end table. She wasn't really angry, this was just a lot harder than she'd thought it would be.  
  
"Okay, Buttercup, leave the TV off, Bubbles... Ask Professor Tuyoma, she'd know, Blossom, the boy fertilizes the egg in your body!" She exclaimed in a single breath, glad it was over with now that she'd said what she could.  
  
"... So we have to eat eggs before we can get pregnant?" Bubbles asked, puzzled at this revelation.  
  
"No Bubbles..." Miss Keane said as calmly as she could possibly make herself be at the moment. "You have little people eggs inside of you." She said.  
  
"But that's silly, people have babies, not eggs!" Bubbles laughed wildly, rolling over on the couch. "Chickens have eggs!"  
  
"I KNOW..." Miss Keane said forcefully, then slammed the palm of her hand against her forehead, trying to calm herself down before speaking again. "The eggs turn into the babies." She explained as softly as she could manage.  
  
"Ah, so they're more than meets the eye." Buttercup cracked, sending all three girls into furious giggles.  
  
Miss Keane forced out a small chuckle, plastering a grin on her face. "Yes, something like that Buttercup. Now is that all you wanted to know?" She asked.  
  
The girls all exchanged questioning glances, but none of them could think of anything else. "Nope, I think that's it for now." Blossom said.  
  
"But I want a baby someday..." Bubbles sniffled a bit.  
  
"Alright Bubbles... alright." Miss Keane told the blond Powerpuff gently, picking her up. "I'll take you to go see Patrisha, she can tell us if you girls will ever be capable of having children. Will that make you happy?" She asked. Bubbles nodded pathetically, wiping some tears from her eyes. "Okay, come on girls." She said, leading them outside and to the car.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Well?" Bubbles asked a bit impatiently while the machine ran across the length of her body, scanning it with a high definition X-Ray laser. She did still have friends in a few places, some pretty high up. She normally wouldn't use favors for such a simple question, but the girls breeding could affect a lot of things in the future, it was best to know.  
  
"Well Bubbles, I don't know what to tell you." Professor Tuyoma said, shrugging. "Internally your body looks like it's getting ready to be able to support a child, but obviously, I don't think your womb would be big enough to hold it." She said. "You could get pregnant, but I don't think we would be able to let the pregnancy last long."  
  
"So... I WON'T... Be able to have babies?" Bubbles asked as she jumped off the machine, walking up to the two adults waiting by the console with the other girls.  
  
"Well..." Patrisha stammered. "You never know... The Chemical-X in your girls' bodies has surprised us before with miracles, maybe it'll provide one here too... When you're ready." She said, kneeling down beside Bubbles to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Did you hear that girls? I might have babies someday!" Bubbles said excitedly, running over to join her sisters.  
  
"That's great Bubbles!" Blossom exclaimed, grinning at her happily.  
  
"Yeah, really cool!" Buttercup agreed.  
  
"Come on, we gotta go pick out names!" Bubbles yelled excitedly, grabbing her sisters hand before streaking off into the sky, dragging her sisters with her. Professor Tuyoma chuckled and turned to Miss Keane, who hadn't said a word the whole time.  
  
"Miss Keane?" She asked, putting a curious hand on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise when the teacher fell limply to the floor, looking frazzled and exhausted. It almost looked like there were a few gray hairs appearing in her once finely toned hair. Well, she'd let the woman rest. She probably needed it in order to be able to keep up with The Powerpuff Girls.  
  
THE END 


	5. 204- Ace In The Hole

204- Ace in the Hole  
  
  
"What's that Octi? You want to fight me? Weeeellll I think I could KICK YOUR BUTT." The small Major Glory figure in Bubbles hand said proudly as he stuck out his chest. She was in the living room surrounded by a pile of the dolls and figures the girls... or more specifically just Bubbles... had accumulated over the years.  
  
"No you could not!" The other half of Bubbles mouth replied as she wiggled Octi to make its tentacles move around threateningly. "I will crush you with my tentacles because I eat superheroes for breakfast." The octopus declared as it moved toward the hero figure.  
  
"Oh no, help me!" Major Glory cried out as Octi's tentacle draped over him. She set the octopus doll on top of her other hand for a moment while she reached for another figure.  
  
"Don't worry Major Glory! I'll save you!" A Bubbles doll quickly 'flew' toward the confrontation and grabbed Octi off the back of the other superhero.  
  
"Oh no! Not Bubbles of the Powerpuff Girls!" Octi yelled as the stuffed Powerpuff lifted him high into the air.  
  
"That's right you bad, bad Octi." Bubbles said as the doll quickly proceeded to pummel her favorite toy. In a few moments she let the purple octopus fall to the ground while the blond doll flew back down to the ground. She quickly grabbed the Major Glory figure again.  
  
"Why thank you Bubbles, you're a great superhero. You're the bestest superhero in the whoooole world." The figure said. The Bubbles doll puts its hand behind its back and looked down embarrassed.  
  
"Aw shucks Major Glory, it's just my job as a Powerpuff Girl!" The doll then struck a pose while the Major Glory figure gave a cheer.  
  
Bubbles' game was interrupted when the TV right beside her turned on with the sound blaring at the highest setting. She covered her ears painfully until the volume was finally turned down to a decent level. "What are you doing? I was playing a game." She told Buttercup who was sitting on the couch with the remote.  
  
"Go play in our room or something because I want to watch TV right now." Buttercup shot back.  
  
"But I was here first. I already have my dolls out here and everything." Bubbles whined angrily.  
  
"Well take them to our room!" Buttercup replied equally angrily.  
  
"Will you girls calm down?" Blossom asked as she floated into the room from the stairs. "Bubbles take it to our room if you want to play without any noise. There IS only one TV in this house." She said reasonably.  
  
"Aw man..." Bubbles whined as she kicked the air in dismay. Buttercup laughed when a news bulletin came on the TV.  
  
"Attention citizens of Townsville, this is an all alerts bulletin. Five people have been attacked in the city, all citizens be advised to stay in your homes until this situation has been resolved... thank you."  
  
"What? People are being attacked?" Blossom said confusedly, staring at the TV. "Why hasn't the mayor called!?" They all just drooped their shoulders when the hotline rang up in their room.  
  
"Better late than never I guess." Buttercup grumbled darkly. In another moment all three girls had streaked upstairs where Blossom picked up the receiver.  
  
"We just heard mayor, we're on it." Blossom said quickly.  
  
"On what?" The mayor asked in utter confusion.  
  
"The thing that's been attacking people in the park..." Blossom replied dumbly.  
  
"Oh yeah that thing... Well alright then this can wait until you finish that." The mayor replied patiently.  
  
"What can wait?" Blossom replied, knowing it probably wouldn't be good.  
  
"Well nothing urgent, it's just that the Gangrene Gang has stormed City Hall and taken everyone in here hostage." The mayor replied. "But if you're busy we can wait.  
  
"The Gangrene Gang!? But they haven't done anything since they lost their leader!" Blossom shouted in surprise. Bubbles looked curious at this and Buttercup just stared at the phone darkly. "Don't worry mayor, we'll be right there!" She said as she slammed the phone down. "Time for action girls!"  
  
"Right!" Bubbles exclaimed as she took up her normal flight position though. Buttercup though hesitated; speaking in the darker voice that indicated Mange's presence.  
  
"The rest of the Gangrene Gang's too dumb to act without a leader." Mange told the others reasonably. "Someone else has to be pulling their strings."  
  
"No matter who their new leader is our mission doesn't change. We bring them down!" Blossom said with determination echoing in her voice. "Now come on girls, before someone gets hurt!" in a flash all three girls vanished out the window, flying as quickly as only they could toward the City Hall.  
  
They reached their destination in only a few minutes, floating up silently to the mayors office to look in. Snake and Little Arturo both had knives pointed at the mayor and Miss Bellum, they seemed to be waiting for something though.  
  
"Attack pattern Omega, end it quickly and don't give them a chance to hurt anyone." Blossom whispered to her sister softly. They both nodded and took off in different directions while Blossom got ready to do her own part.  
  
In a few moments Blossom punched through the window heading straight for the two Gang members. Bubbles and Buttercup punched through the other wall and ceiling respectively as they flew toward the same two.  
  
"PowerpUUUFFFF!" Arturo started to exclaim in surprise, but the girls reached them in under a second and made quick work of them both. The girls dumped both of them in a corner, bruised and unconscious as they turned to free the mayor from being tied to his chair.  
  
"Oh Powerpuff Girls, good of you to come being busy and all." The Mayor said with a quick smile.  
  
"Of course we came, but where are Grubber and Big Billy?" Blossom asked. "I thought the whole gang was here?"  
  
"They were, but they went down to the lobby." Miss Bellum replied. "I think they were supposed to meet someone down there."  
  
"What'd I say?" Mange commented with a grin. "Probably their new leader."  
  
"Well come on girls, let's go check it out. You stay here Mayor and Miss Bellum, we can handle this." Blossom said decisively. Nobody said anything but simply nodded before the girls took off floating through the halls.  
  
"You know, the Gangrene Gang are sheep, but it's not like them to just follow anybody." Buttercup mused softly to herself and her sisters.  
  
"That's why we're going to be careful." Blossom replied as they floated down the stairs. Bubbled exclaimed in disgust when one of her pigtails got caught on something.  
  
"Ewe ewe ewe!" She yelled as she pulled furiously at what looked like nothing. Upon further inspection though her hair had gotten caught in a spider web that seemed to be strong enough to hold her there somehow. "Get it off of me!" She yelled.  
  
"What don't tell me you can't pull that little thing away." Buttercup smirked and grabbed her sister hand to tug at her. Bubbles yowled in pain as she was stretched out, but still the web held her fast. "Geeze what kind of spider makes this stuff?"  
  
"Get it off of me!" Bubbles pouted pathetically. "It's disgusting!" Suddenly someone leapt on Buttercup from behind, putting his arms around her throat with very little effect.  
  
"Hey what the..." Buttercup irritably grabbed the arm and pulled her attacker around so she could see them. Grubber just stuck his tongue out at her and waved. "Ewe get away from me." She swung at his face angrily... but he opened his mouth and swallowed her entire arm. "Yuck! Let go let go!" She waved her arm around furiously but he held fast.  
  
"Don't worry Buttercup I'll... Help..." She looked up the stairs just in time to see Big Billy flinging himself down the steps toward her. His sheer momentum and bulk slammed into her hard and slammed her down on the steps, practically sinking into his stomach from the force of it. They continued to roll down the stairs though, slamming her into them repeatedly until they finally hit the bottom.  
  
"Huh?" Bubbles watched the fights until something that felt like a hand clamped onto the top of her head and yanked her up toward the ceiling. "AAHH! GIRLS! HELP!" She screamed out at first, but quickly something was covering her mouth a she was carried away from the fray.  
  
"Huh? Bubbles!?" Buttercup exclaimed, taking a time out to look for her blond sister. She couldn't see her anywhere though. "Bubbles!" She yelled out again. "You get off of me!" She finally just whirled Grubber around and slammed him into the railing along the side of the stairs. He gasped out as the breath was knocked out of him, freeing her arm. She made quick work of him and dropped him unconscious to the floor.  
  
"Hrgh... You get off of me..." Blossom grunted as she finally managed to get her bearing enough to throw Big Billy off of her and into the wall. She gave him a few more blows to make sure he didn't try anything else before floating to join her sister. "Where'd Bubbles go?"  
  
"I don't know, she was just here and then she screamed and vanished." Buttercup replied sounding a bit worried. "She has to still be somewhere in the building though, it would be too hard to get out without being seen."  
  
"Agreed. Where could she have bee taken though?" Blossom asked. "This building isn't THAT big and the night guards should be on patrol too."  
  
"Come on, let's go ask the Mayor... or actually maybe we should ask Miss Bellum if there's any hiding places in the building." Buttercup said reasonably. Blossom nodded in agreement before both girls took off toward the mayors office again to try and get any clues to find their missing sister.  
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Bubbles looked around the dark cellar underneath the City Hall with wide eyes. She'd been carried down here, and then more of that webbing had been attached to her arms and stuck to the wall. She'd tried every power she had to break it but nothing seemed to work. She hadn't even been able to get a good look at her attacker.  
  
"H... Hello?" She asked kind of meekly.  
  
"Baby Bubbles, just like you always were." A voice echoed from the darkness. She couldn't be sure but it almost sounded familiar to her.  
  
"I am NOT a baby." She retorted, forgetting for the moment that she was still a captive. "What are you doing with me, let me go. I didn't do anything to you." She said angrily.  
  
"Not you... but Buttercup on the other hand." She saw something moving in the darkness but couldn't make out just what it was. "All I have to do now is get you girls separated, and you'll all die by MY hand... just like I died at hers." He said darkly.  
  
"You... But... But you can't... I mean..." Bubbles sputtered. In a few more moments something crawled close enough in the darkness for her to see. She gasped in shock when she saw that his lower body was replaced with the body and legs of a spider. His upper body had green skin that melded almost perfectly with the greenish hue of the spider body. His face though struck a few bells with her. "Ace...?" She whispered.  
  
"Amazing what a little butt-kissing and soul-selling can do for a person isn't it?" Ace said with an ironic smirk on his face. His shades seemed to glow a faint red in the darkness around him as he stared at her. "But now, it's time for one less Powerpuff Girl to get in my way." He stated as one clawed hand grabbed her cheek roughly, holding her head up.  
  
"You... You..." She tried to come up with a retort, but everything was just catching up to her too quickly. She gulped when she felt the claws of his other hand pressing up against her throat, getting ready to tear into it.  
  
Abruptly the wall behind her tore open, sending the dust and debris flying back out of the cellar for some reason. She was still attached to a block of cement that landed on the ground though, unable to move from it. She didn't really have to though since something picked up the block and flew quickly away from Ace, who was yelling his rage, but not giving pursuit.  
  
She couldn't see anything but the ceiling of a short tunnel that had probably been carved out only recently until they emerged into the Tonsville sewer system.  
  
"That was a pretty big blast..." Bubbles commented, trying to sound as light and cheery as she always did. In truth though she was a bit spooked, a zombie spider-man was after the girls... didn't seem much like a laughing matter to her.  
  
"Yeah well..." A familiar voice said as he set her down and propped the cement block up against a wall. "I guess that's why they call me Boomer isn't it?" He commented ironically. She looked over in surprise when her rescuer finally moved into view to see exactly who he'd said he was. Looking exactly like he had several years ago.  
  
"Boomer!? But how... You're back... but..." She sputtered once again as she had before. This was a really confusing night for her.  
  
"I guess our good buddy Him decided to break the rules by bringing somebody back to life... So the 'Lords of Eternity' decided to level the playing field and sent me to compensate... Now let's see about getting this stuff off of you." He grabbed one of the strands of webbing holding her arms to the block and pulled, but he couldn't budge it.  
  
"So you mean that thing back there was really Ace?" she asked in surprise.  
  
"Yeah... Pretty gruesome huh? Why anybody would want to be a monster is beyond me..." He said before he pulled on the webbing again. "Geeze this stuff is tough..."  
  
"Break the block, maybe it'll come off." Bubbles suggested. Boomer grabbed the block and turned it around so he could take careful aim. One punch split it into several dozen pieces, sending them flying everywhere. Bubbles was freed from the block, but the webbing still clung to her wrists and ankles almost like shackles. "Oh yuck..."  
  
"You can wash it off later, we should find the others before Ace gets to them." Boomer said urgently. Bubbles agreed and they both took off down the tunnel again, prepared to fight. They were halted though when they ran into a web that spanned the opening of the cavern. "Damn! He's blocked us off... We'll have to get back to City Hall the old fashioned way."  
  
"But there's not enough time, he'll get Blossom and Buttercup before then!" Bubbles said.  
  
"The faster we fly the less chance of that happening, now FLY!" They both took off down the tunnel again in two blue pinpoints of light. Bubbles could only hope they got back there before her sisters found Ace...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
[This is my kinda place.] Mange commented privately to Buttercup as the two remaining Powerpuffs made their cautious way down to the cellar. This was the last place in the building they hadn't searched and Miss Bellum had agreed it was the most likely hiding place.  
  
[Yeah you would like it.] Buttercup snapped back irritably. [Now shut up I'm trying to keep alert.] She snapped.  
  
[If I were in control I could keep alert.] Mange said.  
  
[Just shut up!] Buttercup demanded.  
  
"Hold on a minute Buttercup." Blossom said as she put out one cautious hand to halt their progress. They both scanned the shadows of the cellar for a few minutes. Nothing leapt out at them or anything... it was just quiet.  
  
"Freaking out?" Buttercup asked her sister with a smirk.  
  
"Thought I heard something." Blossom replied. They both remained as silent as they could for a few more minutes. The only sound was a soft scuttling from somewhere in the room. The echo from the empty room made it impossible to identify the source.  
  
"Probably rats..." Buttercup said off-handedly. They started forward again, but Buttercup exclaimed in surprise when her arm got caught in another web. "Look out Blossom, there's more of those webs in here!" She shouted in alarm.  
  
"Rgh, I know!" Blossom replied with a strained voice. The sisters couldn't even see each other anymore in the dark cellar that had probably been unused for a pretty long time. "What made this stuff!?" She demanded. "It's stronger than anything I've ever seen before!"  
  
"Exactly." A dark voice said from somewhere above them. It was very close, almost like it was right on top of them. They both waited expectantly while something squeaked in the shadows. In a moment a light bulb flashed into brilliant light, having just been screwed in. Both girls gasped in surprise when they saw the form hanging just beside it upside down.  
  
"Who are you!?" Blossom demanded. There wasn't even an once of fear evident in her voice or manner as she stared up at the creature indignantly.  
  
"You don't recognize me? Surely YOU..." The thing turned toward Buttercup with a smirk. "recognize me... don't you Buttercup?" The girls just watched as he slowly lowered himself down through the air by dangling from a web line. He reached the ground in a few moments and walked up to her, letting her get a good look at him.  
  
"Ace!" Buttercup said instantly once she got a good enough look at him.  
  
"But you're supposed to be dead!" Mange howled from the same mouth Buttercup had used only a moment before. She was identifiable because she used a darker tone than Buttercup ever did.  
  
"Well guess AGAIN!" Ace snapped as one clawed hand shot forward to grip Buttercups throat tightly. He slammed her up against the wall quickly, his claw squeezing ever tighter around her throat. Her eyes clenched shut in pain as she struggled to move his claw away from her.  
  
"Buttercup! You get away from her!" Blossom yelled just before she fired her heat vision at the creatures back. It seemed to simply deflect off of the hard outer skeleton that covered his body like any spider, but it was obviously a lot stronger. The impact pushed him forward slightly, but little damage showed.  
  
He let go of Buttercup for the moment, who just fell limp against the wall. She was held off the ground only by the web that had caught her arm before. He moved over to stare down at Blossom, who was caught to her own web by one leg and one arm where she'd tried to free herself.  
  
"Settle down." He ordered her firmly before he grabbed her head and slammed it back against the wall, tangling it in his web as well. "I'll deal with you in a minute. Now I've got to finish what I started." He said as he turned back to finish Buttercup. He gasped lightly in surprise when Buttercup was gone, replaced with a shadowy specter he knew all too well.  
  
"Remember me... ACE?" Mange said as her pulsing green eyes narrowed at him dangerously. "Surely you recognize me." The shadows that were still tangled in the web turned quickly into blades themselves, sharp enough to slice the material into ribbons and let it fall to the floor uselessly.  
  
"How could I forget?" Ace said softly as he raised his own claws in front of him, facing Mange without so much as flinching. For a few moments they faced each other, each sizing the other up until finally they lunged.  
  
Ace swung both huge claws in a wide arc, tearing through the shadows of Mange's cloak while his opponents essence wrapped itself around every limb she could reach, pulling him forward to plant a few punches to his face. He was far from defenseless however. His claws tore through the shadows and into Buttercup's body, which was not gone, but merely concealed in the cloak of Mange's power.  
  
For the first time Mange felt real physical pain, but she ignored it as she continued to try to get the upper hand over her opponent. Ace was not easy though, and several times he managed to knock her clear across the room to the floor.  
  
She got up and lunged again, this time leaping over him at the last minute in a spin, several sharp claws striking out of her fist as she came down right on top of him...  
  
[NO!] Buttercup screamed at Mange just before she could complete the strike. [Don't kill him!] Buttercup howled furiously. Mange wound up simply landing on the ground and was quickly locked in battle with him again as before.  
  
[I could have ended it... Why did you stop me!?] Mange howled angrily at her counterpart as she again struggled against her foe.  
  
[I'm a Powerpuff Girl, killing is NOT what I do!] Buttercup howled back.  
  
[Fool... You've killed before, why would now be different!] Mange was cut off from her thoughts as Ace through her across the room again to slam into the wall heavily.  
  
[I never wanted to kill anyone... It was just a dream YOU acted out...] Buttercup replied darkly I her mind even as Ace advanced on her slowly.  
  
[Fine then... Let us both die, put us out of our misery if you're too weak to let me do what needs to be done.] Mange replied. She didn't move as Ace neared them again with a grin of triumph. He thought she was down for the count and he wasn't about to waste his good fortune.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Buttercup... Mange get up!" Blossom screamed nearly in a panic as she could only watch Ace advance on her. She didn't move to fight back or get out of the way... simply lying there like she wanted to die. She had to do something, but she could barely move her head with it tangled in this web, let alone do anything else.  
  
"Buttercup!" She howled again when Ace raised his claws, getting ready to bring them down and tear her to pieces. Without warning two streaks of blue light shot into the room like bullets to slam into the back of the creature. They slammed him up against the wall with enough force to make the entire building shudder from the impact.  
  
"Boomer!" Blossom couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when she saw the Rowdyruff Boy floating in the air in front of her. "And Bubbles! Am I glad to see you!" She said. "Come on, get me out of here and we can take this guy down!" She yelled.  
  
"Mange, you have to do it. We're not strong enough to break the webs, you have to cut them!" Bubbles yelled down at the shadow that still knelt limply on the floor. "Mange?" She asked confusedly.  
  
"No time for that." Boomer said to call Bubbles attention to Ace who'd extricated himself from the wall and was currently advancing on them. The two blondes nodded to each other before they lunged at the creature, trying their best to bring it down. They got in some good blows, but it was quickly clear the two of them alone would not be able to do it.  
  
"Mange come on, do something!" Blossom yelled when she saw Bubbles thrown up against the wall painfully. "You have to!" She screamed. Why wouldn't she move, if she'd only cut Blossom free and fight with them they could do this...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
[They need us Mange!] Buttercup yelled angrily at her dark alter-ego. [Bubbles and Boomer are fighting right now to protect us! You just want to lie here!?]  
  
[It is not worth it.] Mange replied. [I have no reason to fight now, if you cannot finish the job you will fight forever.] She said.  
  
[Maybe we will fight forever, but it's better than running away like you're doing now!] Buttercup practically screamed in her mind. She calmed down when she felt her darker side only becoming more adamant. [Please... just cut Blossom loose and give me control. That's all we need. Then you can sulk all you want. You can hide in here forever for all I care, but I don't want to hide. I want to FIGHT.] Buttercup said.  
  
[An eternal battle is one that can never be won, why do you wish to fight it?] Mange asked simply.  
  
[If you were really a part of me once you'd know the answer to that.] Buttercup replied disgustedly. [I fight for my sisters and for what's right. I guess I shouldn't expect someone who's nothing more than a shadow to know anything about justice or love.] She said with disdain.  
  
It was a few long moments before Mange replied to her. [I was born when you wrenched your good side free to save your sisters...] She said darkly. [Your darkness is all I have.]  
  
[I refuse to believe ANY part of me was this heartless.] Buttercup said. [Now get up, free Blossom, and give me my body back. I'll take care of the rest.] She reasoned. Mange was born of Buttercup's darkest side when she was under control... She was the reason they were having these problems now. Maybe she should have kept better hold of herself, but now wasn't the time for regrets. She had sisters to protect.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Useless... completely and utterly useless. Blossom couldn't think anything else as she could only watch Bubbles and Boomer trying vainly to fight off the monster Ace had become on their own. She wanted to help them more than anything, but the webs still held her fast to the wall. She'd tried to punch out the wall, but something about the web kept her from doing this... If Him had designed this stuff, he'd designed it well.  
  
She gasped slightly when Mange finally stirred from her seeming trance on the floor. "Mange, help Bubbles at least, please!" She yelled almost in tears. This was tearing her apart inside not being able to do anything to help her sisters, she'd never felt so helpless.  
  
To her surprise Mange shot out one shadowy tendril to slice the webs free from Blossoms arms and legs, letting her move away from the wall. Before she could reply Mange's shadows seemed to sink back into her body, leaving only Buttercup standing in front of her sister.  
  
"Come on, we have to help them!" Buttercup said quickly before Blossom could come up with anything to say. So she simply nodded as they both whirled to help the two blondes who seemed to be having a whole lot of trouble at the moment.  
  
"Come on Puffs, form up!" Blossom yelled like the leader she was. Buttercup landed on her left side while Bubbles landed on her right. To their surprise even Boomer responded, floating just above Blossoms head with an eager look on his face. Ace whirled on them when he finally realized his opponents had vanished from the fray.  
  
Ace let out a growl when he saw the four of them grouped together, staring at him viciously. "Rrrgh come on!" He howled as he lunged at them, swinging his huge claws in wide arcs.  
  
"Girls, pattern Parasite! Boomer, just fight!" Blossom yelled quickly. They all streaked off in different directions before Ace could reach them. Boomer dive bombed him quickly, planting a kick that didn't do much on its own... But with the three following kicks from the girls it set the creature to reeling with the force of it.  
  
"All together! One, two, THREE!" Blossom yelled out. At the same time all four of them streaked toward the creature in their beams of light. They all slammed into him at the same time, battering him in four separate barrages of punches and kicks aimed absolutely anywhere the kids could reach. Ace's hard skin began to crack from the sheer force of the four of them pressing in on him.  
  
"Time to lock him up!" Blossom took a deep breath while the other abruptly flew out of the way. Ace looked a bit confused for a few moments before Blossom let loose a stream of ice-breath, trapping him in a sheet of ice thick enough to hold anything captive.  
  
The three puffs and ruff landed on the ground, looking at the creature curiously and almost a bit pityingly. "Well I think that just about wraps this up Powerpuffs, nice job... oh you too Boomer." Blossom said a bit apologetically.  
  
"Nah, don't worry 'bout it." Boomer replied, staring up at the spider. "The Rowdyruff Boys are gone... I've been watching you guys... So from now on I'm just Boomer, the best crime fighter this city's ever seen!" He exclaimed proudly.  
  
"I don't think so buddy, you would have lost if it weren't for me!" Buttercup countered.  
  
"I helped too!" Bubbles interrupted.  
  
"Okay okay we all did good." Blossom interrupted before they could break into an all out brawl. "Now let's just get Ace somewhere he won't cause trouble and we can head home. The police have taken care of the rest of the Gangrene Gang by now." She said.  
  
"Yeah, boy is Brick gonna be jealous when he sees you Boomer." Buttercup chuckled as the four of them lifted the block of ice to take it to the police station. "He's STILL having powers withdrawal."  
  
"Hey that reminds me... Wouldn't you have the same... uh... problems as your brothers Boomer?" Blossom asked.  
  
"No, the ones who sent me back fixed that. I'm a puff and will stay a puff." Boomer replied.  
  
"Don't you mean ruff?" Bubbles asked.  
  
"Is there a difference?" Boomer replied. None of the girls said anything to that. There really wasn't a difference between ruff and puff. In any case it didn't really matter what they were all called. They were still superheroes and would always protect Townsville. After tonight though Blossom was worried about what Mange might do in the future, they were almost clobbered tonight because she'd decided to be stubborn... She wasn't sure they could count on Buttercup when they really needed her because of her dark half...  
  
She shook her head as they dropped the ice-block off at the station. Buttercup wouldn't let them down when they needed her, she was sure of that. As for Mange... they would deal with her on a case-by-case basis. It was all they could do, but no matter what she did, The Powerpuff Girls would always work together toward any end.  
  
THE END 


	6. 205- The Leaders Burden

205- The Leaders Burden  
  
  
June 20  
  
Boomer's come back to us, and I was honestly worried about what the other boys' reactions would be. Brick took the news happily enough, but Butch had nearly gone ballistic. It took me half an hour to get him calmed down enough to not attack his brother in order to get his own powers back. Well at least we now have some more help and don't have to do everything ourselves... Especially with Mange acting up like she is...  
  
Blossom Utonium  
  
  
June 29  
  
Another day another situation, this time involving Mange and Harry Pitt... It wasn't pretty. Brick got pretty pissed off too, and even Buttercup nearly split her own head open to get to Mange when she found out what the shadow had been doing. I of course had to keep calm and get the situation under control. Finally I think I convinced Mange to stay put and Buttercup vowed to never sleep again. We'll see how long that lasts... At least nobody got hurt.  
  
Blossom Utonium  
  
  
July 2  
  
Well, this has certainly been an interesting day. Butch was dragged home by his girlfriend with two black eyes after an encounter with some bullies. Boomer nearly tore them to pieces when we found them, but I managed to calm him down while Bubbles and Buttercup snuck them off to tell the proper authorities. Why do I always have to be the one to calm everyone else down? Well at least the Fourth of July celebration is tomorrow evening; maybe then I'll get some time to relax... Here's hoping.  
  
Blossom Utonium  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Blossom sat back in her computer chair to study the small diary note on the glowing screen of her laptop computer that she'd gotten for her birthday one year. It had been a rough week on her as most weeks tended to be. She rarely got any real rest and when she did, she got interrupted by one of the other six people living in the house. It was rough being the one who got to keep order all the time... Especially since Miss Keane was having trouble keeping Mange alone in check.  
  
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she hit the save command and shut down her computer. She simply sat in the dark stillness for awhile, letting the peace and quiet calm her frayed nerves. It was nearly midnight and her sisters were already asleep, as were the boys further down the hall in another room. This was the only time she could relax without any interruptions or fear of being called off to mediate some argument.  
  
Before she knew it a yawn had already passed through her lips. She had to admit she was a little bit tired, saving the day, keeping order, and protecting her siblings from each other was a very full day every single day. Which was why she was looking forward to a little rest and relaxation at the party tomorrow.  
  
"Just a few more hours and you'll be relaxing by the beach watching the fireworks..." Blossom assured herself so she would be able to keep sane until then. "Just keep it together girl... You can make it." She said as she closed the lid of her computer and turned to float back to the bed. She hoped it would go fast... but knowing her luck tomorrow would probably be one of the longest days of her life.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The next morning she opened her eyes slowly, squinting against the light. It felt like it was trying to tear her eyes apart as she sat up to look around the room. Buttercup and Bubbles were already gone from their places beside her on the bed. She must have slept late... What time was it?  
  
A quick glance at the clock by the bed revealed it was already eleven o'clock in the morning. She almost panicked, but then remembered it was Saturday and she didn't have school. Thank God for weekends.  
  
With a soft sigh of relief she floated up from the bed and over to the closet to get dressed in her traditional pink dress as opposed to her nightgown. While she was over there she pulled out her small two piece bathing suit and threw it onto the bed for easy locating later. She'd need it when they went to the beach where the party was being held.  
  
She took a few minutes to fix up her hair and put on the bright red bow as she always did before floating down the stairs to the living room. She found Miss Keane on the phone, making sure everything would be ready for tonight. Her and Miss Bellum were the part coordinators and had a lot to do, there were a lot of people coming.  
  
"No we don't want to serve alcohol at the party! I ordered cans of Pepsi, not Prepsi whatever that is! Just get it straight." Miss Keane said into the receiver angrily before slamming the phone down. "Seriously, who would think to serve alcohol at an event like this." She grumped. She smirked just before she noticed Blossom floating in the air in confusion. "Oh hello dear."  
  
"Hey Miss Keane... Where is everybody?" Blossom asked curiously.  
  
"They all went on ahead to the beach to play before the party starts. They said you could join them when you woke up." Miss Keane informed her with a smile.  
  
"Oh... Great." Blossom said, forcing out a soft smile before she turned to float into the kitchen. They'd left without her... Why didn't they just wake her up? Well maybe they just wanted to play alone for awhile... After all it wasn't like they had to do EVERYTHING together. She could just get a drink for energy and head out since Miss Keane was too busy to make breakfast.  
  
She got a can of coke out of the fridge and popped it open before she turned to head for the front door. On her way through the dining room she noticed six plates set out on the table, all empty. One of the plates, probably hers, had the fork missing while one of the other plates had two forks. So they had had breakfast... And worse someone ate her food... Aw well, she could grab something while she was out she supposed.  
  
A small sigh crept out of her though as she floated out the front door, closing it firmly behind her. The warm summer breeze felt pretty nice as she floated up into the sky to look down on Townsville, the city she was sworn to protect under any circumstances. Sometimes it felt like that was all she was supposed to do... protect, make sure things didn't get out of hand, guard people...  
  
She crumpled up the now empty tin can into a little ball as she began to fly across the sky, dropping the tin ball into a trashcan as she headed for the library. She had time before the actual celebration would start, so she might as well do some things she'd been meaning to do for awhile.  
  
She reached the desired building in a few moments and floated calmly inside, taking a look around. There were few citizens around today, only the middle-aged woman who ran the place and a few others were present. She floated calmly over to the books on Townsville's history and began to rifle through them, looking for a good one.  
  
She smirked as she found quite a few on the Powerpuff Girls themselves. They'd only existed four years and people ALREADY considered them a part of history. She shook her head and continued to look until she found one rather thin book in particular. 'Legends of the Freedom Star'. Curiously she took the book off the shelf and floated over to the table and turn to the first page.  
  
"The freedom star shines but once a season, shining down on those it protects. Its power is great and its task is worthy, but its life is one fit for a monster." Blossom read the book out loud under her breath. "Those under its gentle glow live their lives at their happiest, but the star forever shall remain nothing but a slave. A leaders destiny is to remain alone and protect those that serve him, but his life is forfeit, like a wave protecting an ocean."   
  
There was much more, but she didn't really think she wanted to continue on as she closed the book, just staring at it like she'd never seen it before. Protecting others but always staying a slave... that was exactly how she'd been feeling in recent weeks. Like nothing she wanted to do was important because she had a job to do... Even now her sisters and the boys were all playing while she was here, studying... and for what? To be a better Powerpuff Girl?  
  
Abruptly she knocked the book off the table with enough force to send it hurtling into the next table and snap one of the legs off. She thought to try and fix it for a moment, but finally she just shook her head and streaked out of the library and headed for home. She had to stop enslaving herself to being a superhero, she needed to have a little fun... the girls wouldn't have just left her there to be cruel. They probably just thought she WANTED to be left alone like she normally was... Well not anymore.  
  
She flew into her bedroom to quickly change into her bathing suit before streaking out again toward the beach. She didn't need to spend all her life trying only to become better at something she had yet to fail at. She would try to relax... Maybe have a little bit of fun for a change.  
  
As she neared the beach she spotted her sisters there in their own little two piece bathing suits along with the boys in their swimming trunks. She landed easily on the soft sand and walked up to them with a happy smile. "Hey guys!" She called out as she approached them.  
  
Buttercup and the boys just kind of waved a greeting, but Bubbles streaked over instantly to take her arm excitedly. "Hey Blossom! Come help me with my sand-kingdom!" She pulled her over to where some small mounds of sand were already formed into the general shape of a few buildings.  
  
"Don't you mean a sand-castle?" The redhead asked curiously.  
  
"Nope, I'm gonna make the most beautiful kingdom ever." She put her hands down and carefully pushed some of the sand aside, making sure she didn't take out any parts she wanted to keep. Then she put her hands on either side and squeezed as hard as she could, fusing the grains of sand into a single piece until she finally let go, revealing a rather nice looking figure. "Look, a sand horsy!" She exclaimed with a grin.  
  
"That's great Bubbles." Blossom assured her with a soft smile. She looked over at her other sister quickly to see what was going on. She was currently boxing with Boomer down near the water. She obviously loved Brick and all, but it was just as obvious she missed having someone as strong as her to spar with since Blossom was often busy with one thing or another and Bubbles preferred her dolls to fighting. Boomer showing up gave her just what she needed.  
  
Brick just watched the two from his position on the beach towel that he'd brought to lie on. Butch sat right on the sand stretched out comfortably with his girlfriend Jessica stretched out right beside him in a purple one piece.  
  
"What is that..." Boomer said when something began to ripple through the water toward the beach.  
  
"No not a monster today please..." Blossom begged silently. Of course though a bulbous head poked out of the water, glaring at them with dark eyes as it lifted itself out of the water.  
  
"MONSTER!" Bubbles screamed, throwing herself in front of her precious sand-kingdom to try and protect it. "What do we do Blossom?" She asked. Blossom looked around to see every face watching her expectantly. She hadn't prepared that morning though; she didn't have any plans... why did they always look at HER?  
  
"Uh... Um..." Blossom gulped nervously, then just said the first idea that came to mind. "Just attack!" She yelled, throwing herself at the sea-creature before it had reached the shore. The other three power-children shrugged and followed after her. They all tried to pummel the thing, but their strikes slipped easily off of the body of the creature.  
  
"This isn't working!" Bubbles exclaimed.  
  
"What now?" Boomer said as they all backed off before the thing could get in a good blow on any of them. They all stared straight at Blossom again expectantly, like she was supposed to have all the answers...  
  
She quickly tried to assess the situation. A monster they couldn't hit... so they had to cut. Mange could do it, but she was too unreliable to trust. What else did they have, water and sand... those together made mud. Water mud and sand... Water mud and sand... what could they do with those...  
  
She looked around desperately for anything they could use. The others were waiting for her; she had to come up with something. In a moment her eye fell on Bubbles' sand-kingdom... compressed sand made... GLASS!  
  
"Buttercup, Boomer. Hold it off! Bubbles, come with me!" Blossom ordered quickly as she darted for the beach again. She landed and immediately began pulling the sand together. "Quick, make a pole from the sand just like you did your horsy!" She ordered. They set to work making the pole and in a few moments had one about twice as long as the girls were tall. It wasn't pretty, but it would work.  
  
Quickly Blossom added a sharp tip and hefted it for balance. It wasn't her first choice as a weapon, but a glass spear could cut. They both flew into the air again where Boomer and Buttercup were having almost too much fun torturing the poor monster who didn't have a prayer of catching them.  
  
Blossom took careful aim before hurling the spear as hard as she could at the monster. "Buttercup catch when it come out the other side!" She yelled as the spear plunged into the monster. As she'd thought it had enough force to go straight through to the other side where Buttercup caught it.  
  
"Boomer, go long!" Buttercup yelled before she threw it at the creature from a different direction. The puffs and ruff took turns throwing it around almost like a game of catch until the monster finally collapsed and sank back into the sea where it came from.  
  
"Yes!" Boomer exclaimed in triumph. "Rowdyruff's rule!" He screamed with a laugh.  
  
"What are you talking about? It was my throw that took it down." Buttercup shot back as they all floated back down toward the beach. Blossom just listened to the others bicker about who had saved the day like they always wound up doing. None of them even seemed to care who had made the spear... Aw well, it didn't matter. She'd let them have fun.  
  
She sighed slightly as she turned to walk up to the edge of the water again, clasping her hands behind her back and just looking out at the water. She reached up with one hand and undid the clasp in her hair, letting her long fiery red hair down and just looking at the bow that had been holding it up.  
  
"You look like you have a lot on your mind." She looked a bit surprised to see Butch standing beside her with a concerned look on his face. They'd never been anything like a couple, but they were kind of like best friends. Since the Cherry Blossom incident they'd really gotten to talking and by now they'd really gotten comfortable with it.  
  
"Ah nothing important." Blossom replied, looking down at the bow again. With a soft sigh she dropped it to the sand, watching as a mall wave came up and swept over it, sweeping it out to sea.  
  
"Doesn't seem like nothing." Butch told her.  
  
"I don't want to..." She began, taking a deep breath to ready herself. "I don't want to be the leader of the Powerpuff Girls anymore." She said. With that she turned away from him to head back up to where the others were just talking and laughing playfully. Butch just looked back out at the water thoughtfully as more waves rolled in serenely.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The rest of the day passed uneventfully enough while the kids mostly just lazed about the beach waiting for everyone else to show up and the party to begin. Everybody looked a bit surprised when they realized Blossoms bow was gone, but few asked questions. Butch looked thoughtful for the rest of the day just staring at Blossom, much to Jessica's dismay.  
  
It was only six o'clock in the evening as Blossom just let the gentle waves of the water carry her around aimlessly. She didn't have to worry about being pulled too far out because she could just fly back if she needed to. The cool water felt nice on her skin as the rest of the day had been pretty warm. She had a feeling all of them would be peeling for weeks since they'd been outside all day.  
  
"Ta dadada... DADA!" Bubbles said playfully as she nimbly did cartwheels across the surface of the water. On the final notes she wet down in a split on the water, gasping a bit when she went a little too low and got her butt soaked in the cool water. "Ooohhh that's freezing! How can you stand it in there?" She asked. She hadn't been in the water at all, mostly working on her sand-kingdom. Blossom guessed she'd decided to take a break.  
  
"I kind of like it actually." Blossom replied, being careful not to move lest she sink herself. "What are you doing out here?" She asked curiously.  
  
"Oh I want to show you what I made! Come on come on!" Bubbles replied eagerly, tugging at Blossoms arm. The redhead just let her bouncy sister drag her through the air back toward the beach where a small kingdom had been made in the sand. It looked surprisingly good really, even had windows and hollowed out rooms.  
  
"This is amazing Bubbles... Are those little sand-people in there?" She asked curiously. Bubbles just laughed and nodded proudly, her pigtails bouncing against her head. "Well that's just incredible. I like it." Blossom told her sister sincerely.  
  
"Thanks! It took me all day!" Bubbles told her giddily. "But I did it! And it's beeeaaauuuuuuutiful!" She announced proudly.  
  
"Yes it is." Blossom smiled back at her warmly. Suddenly something slammed into her side, sending her flying to the ground in a shower of sand. It clung to her still dripping wet skin like a blanket and coated her long red hair. "Ugh..." She groaned in disgust.  
  
"Sorry!" Buttercup exclaimed immediately climbing to her feet. "Didn't see you there." She put down one hand to help Blossom to her feet. The pink puff looked over irritably to see Boomer looking away innocently whistling to himself. "You get back here Boomer!" Buttercup yelled angrily as she chased the Rowdyruff Boy further down the beach.  
  
"I'm going for a swim..." Blossom said grumpily before making her way down to the water again. Just before she got there she heard Miss Keane's car pull into the parking lot up a ways from the beach.  
  
"Kids everyone come help set up for the party!" She called out to them from the car. The others all went up to help her unpack while Blossom just sighed. She always got the raw end of everything no matter what she did... Just to make everyone else happy.  
  
She just shrugged to herself and floated after the others to help set up stuff for the party. Hopefully she would have better luck at relaxation a little later when the party got in full swing and everyone else was occupied.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The sun was already halfway gone, casting its rainbow hue across the surface of the lake in a myriad of colors that didn't even seem to really exist. Many of the attendees had already paired off to watch the fireworks, which would start any moment. Brick lay on his blanket again, this time with Buttercup sitting lightly in his lap like he was a lawn chair. Butch and Jessica sat curled up in the sand together not really caring about anything. Bubbles bounced around giddily waiting for the show to start while Boomer just leaned against the cooler for the drinks patiently.  
  
Blossom lay sprawled out on a small outcropping of rock that overlooked the beach a good twenty-five feet above it. She just stared up at the sky blankly, a whole list of thoughts running through her mind. Why did she have to be the one to always figure out how to do everything? From monsters to the best way to carry things she always had to know just how to do it... She never did anything that wasn't for someone else, and they rarely did anything just for her...  
  
"A leaders destiny is to remain alone and protect those that serve him, but his life is forfeit, like a wave protecting an ocean..." She repeated the words from the book to herself as she remembered them. She was a bit surprised when she felt a tear running down her cheek. She quickly rubbed at it just before she heard a voice behind her.  
  
"So that's what's wrong with you..." Boomer said as he floated up to the rock to sit with her calmly. "Butch told me something was up... is that it?" He asked.  
  
"Just something I read somewhere... That the leader is always just the servant to those that follow her... and it's true. Everyone looks at me to figure everything out and... And I don't know if I can do it..." She told him softly. Her voice choked up in the middle as she rubbed at her eyes again furiously.  
  
"But Blossom... you've ALWAYS done it." He pointed out gently. "Why is it suddenly too much?"  
  
"It's not just that... I've been thinking like this for about a week... That book just put it into words for me..." She replied softly. "Why do I always have to do it... Why can't someone else figure things out or make decisions..."  
  
"Because you're the only one who can..." Boomer told her. "Buttercup would just beat up anything that moved, Bubbles would never be able to make those kinds of decisions and I'm not a Powerpuff... " He said. "Without you... It'd all fall apart."  
  
"But I can't handle it anymore..." She sighed sadly. "Damned if I do... Damned if I don't..." She muttered. She lowered her head into her hands, ignoring the fireworks that had already begun to explode overhead in flashes of brilliant colors.  
  
"Don't think like that... Maybe you just need a vacation." Boomer told her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "Some time off... You're the best leader this team could hope for... And you deserve a little time to yourself." He rubbed her shoulder gently, trying to comfort her.  
  
"I just... I'm just tired..." Blossom said, not looking up at him. She was caught a little off guard when he pulled her into a hug, resting her teary face on his shoulder.  
  
"Then rest... We won't fall apart without you for a few days." Boomer told her as gently as he could. One hand stroked her long hair, hanging loose around her shoulders. "Seriously Blossom don't put yourself through this."  
  
She put her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I can't rest... Always... Needed..." She whispered, but her eyes were already half closed. Her eyelashes brushed against his bare shoulder, tickling him slightly. Boomer just rubbed her back gently and leaned back on the rock, letting her head rest on his bare chest.  
  
Her breathing slowed into a rhythmic sleeping pattern even as the fireworks high above them intensified. She would probably regret missing it in the morning, but rest was a rare commodity for her these days. There was always a hotline call, or a monster attack, or a sibling fight, or something like that. He'd let her get some rest while she could; maybe she would feel better in the morning.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
She groaned softly and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. To her surprise she found she was lying on something... or someone. When did this happen? She looked up in alarm and opened her eyes, seeing Boomer pinned underneath her still in his swimming trunks. She looked down to see she was still in her pink two-piece as well... nobody had bothered to wake her up?  
  
As she pushed herself away from him Boomer stirred, rubbing his eyes and blinking against the morning sun. "Good morning..." He told her, stiffly rubbing his back after sleeping on the hard rock all night.  
  
"Morning... what are we still doing out here? What happened?" She asked. She was almost afraid some super-villain had knocked her out and eaten her sisters or something.  
  
"You just fell asleep and I didn't wanna wake you up or anything." Boomer replied.  
  
"You should have woken me up, now you're gonna have a stiff back all day." She chided him like the leader she was.  
  
"Who cares?" Boomer retorted simply as he pushed himself to his feet with a grunt. "I'll be fine, I can take it." He announced with pride, though it was all he could do to lean over and offer a hand to help her up. She took it with a small smile and got to her feet beside him. "Besides, didn't feel half bad having you close to me like that."  
  
"You're just saying that cuz I'm a girl." Blossom replied with a soft blush. "Well come on, let's get back home before the others begin to wonder what happened to us." Boomer nodded and they both took off back toward the house. Something troubled Blossom the whole way though until she finally stopped in mid-air, grabbing his arm to halt him as well. "Listen about what we talked about last night..." She said softly. "Don't tell anyone alright?"  
  
"What you're not going to?" He asked looking somewhat surprised.  
  
"It was just a one-day thing... I'm fine now really." Blossom assured him. She grabbed his arm again gently before he could protest. "I am fine." She said again more firmly.  
  
"If you say so..." Boomer replied somewhat reluctantly. "But I'll be keeping an eye on you. Just in case." He warned her.  
  
"Go ahead, I have nothing to hide." Blossom told him almost challengingly. "In fact, watch me as much as you want. I don't care, because my life is an open book." She said as they both took off towards their home again.  
  
They both went home and quickly changed into their more traditional clothing. Before Boomer could catch her though Blossom snuck out of the house to head to the library again. Now that she was thinking a bit more clearly she thought she should read the rest of that book. See if there was anything she missed.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The Powerpuff Hotline buzzed loudly through the house several times. The group of kids waiting in the living room expected it to stop when Blossom answered, but it never did. It just kept ringing insistently until finally Bubbles got up to go answer it.  
  
"Yes mayor?" Bubbles said into the receiver curiously.  
  
"Oh hello Bubbles." The mayor said. "I was just wondering if you were too busy to take care of this pesky flying T-Rex that's destroying the city." He said politely.  
  
"We're on it mayor." Bubbles said before she slammed the phone down and turned to Buttercup and Boomer who'd gathered behind her. "We have a monster... Where's Blossom?"  
  
"I haven't seen her all day. Last I saw her was last night with YOU." She said, glaring at Boomer accusingly.  
  
"She's probably just out for a fly, there's three of us here, we can handle this one without her." Boomer told them quickly. "Now come on we have work to do!" He streaked out the window before either of the Powerpuff Girls could really argue, so they just shrugged and followed him out to the center of the city.  
  
As promised a T-Rex skeleton with wings was flying around Townsville destroying stuff, eating people, and generally making a mess of everything it came into contact with. The three tiny heroes just watched the thing curiously for a few minutes.  
  
"Okay... Anyone got any ideas?" Bubbles asked.  
  
"Let's just break the thing and get it over with!" Buttercup exclaimed. The other two just shrugged and followed her in a typical formation with just an empty space in the middle. When they got close enough they all split up and slammed into different sections of the fragile looked skeleton. It proved to be much sturdier than it looked however, holding up to their strongest punches.  
  
"Attack its head!" Boomer suggested quickly when they realized this wasn't working. They formed up again quickly and darted for the things head in three pinpoints of light. When they got close the Rex opened its mouth and ate them whole, though they were able to fly easily out its non-existent back.  
  
"Oohhh where's Blossom!?" Bubbles whined as they dodged the things counterstrike. They couldn't even fly away now since the thing had wings. They tried attacking it with every power they could think of, even Mange couldn't break whatever it was made of. Their only hope was something to go their way...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
"The Freedom Star shines on the day when true freedom is attained. When the master commands and the followers follow is the day freedom loses its meaning. To be a true leader is to be in eternal servitude to your troops and do everything for them... That's the only way to make the star shine upon you..." Blossom read the final passage of the book softly, gently closing it and just sitting there dazed. She didn't know what to think or do anymore. Would she have to just serve her sisters FOREVER in one way or another?  
  
"So hard to understand..." She muttered to herself as she got up from the chair. "Leading and serving and following... It makes no sense..." She held her head painfully as she floated out of the library toward home again. She had a headache, she didn't want to do anything but lie down and sleep for the next decade or so.  
  
Of course that wasn't what she would be doing. When she got home she met the somewhat disappointed stares of Miss Keane and Brick, though Butch had a more thoughtful expression on his face. "Where have you been Blossom? Your sisters are in trouble!" Miss Keane chided her gently.  
  
"I was just at the library..." Blossom muttered, closing her eyes so she wouldn't lose it right there. She just wanted to rest at the moment, was that too much to ask?  
  
"Well go help them, they need you." Miss Keane told her quickly. Blossom didn't move though, just stood there in the door with her shoulder shaking violently. "Blossom is something wrong?" She asked more gently, kneeling down beside the redheaded puff. Finally she just broke down sobbing and grabbed Miss Keane, burying her face in the older womans shoulder. "What is it?" She asked worriedly.  
  
"I just... Just... I don't want to be the leader!" Blossom said just before breaking into sobs again.  
  
"Why not? Blossom you've always been the leader..." Miss Keane told her gently.  
  
"I know but I'm tired and... And I just won't be able to... To... I don't know!" Blossom yelled through her sobs.  
  
"Calm down... Come over here and rest a minute..." Miss Keane rubbed her back tenderly as she picked up the small puff and carried her over to the couch, setting her on her lap. "Now Blossom... This isn't like you at all, you've always been strong..." She began softly.  
  
"That's just IT!" Blossom yelled. "I'm always the one to figure everything out and make plans and everyone turns to ME when they have problems and... And I just want some time to myself but I can never get any and there's always something... I can't do anything for myself!" She said finally. "I can't be happy..."  
  
"But Blossom... I thought protecting Townsville and helping your sisters was what made you happiest?" Miss Keane told her. Blossom looked up a bit curiously, sniffling to herself. "Why suddenly do you think you don't want to do it?"  
  
"I don't know... I'm just getting tired of deciding everything and being the one everyone turns to..." She said a bit more softly as she leaned against Miss Keane, searching for any comfort she could find. "It's too hard... I do it so much..." She said.  
  
"You do what you have to do... and you do what's right. I've known you since you were created and I know you enjoy being a Powerpuff Girl... Fighting the evil and protecting the innocent." Miss Keane told her, running one gentle hand through her long red hair. "You don't lead because you have to... you lead because you're the only one who can, and somewhere deep down you enjoy it... You just have to find the leader again."  
  
"I don't feel like a leader anymore..." Blossom replied softly, closing her eyes.  
  
"Maybe this'll help." Butch suggested, startling both girls by stepping toward them. He reached behind him and pulled out a bright red bow... the same one Blossom had dropped in the lake yesterday. "I think you should have this." He held it out to her in one hand.  
  
Blossom just stared at it for a few minutes, never moving away from Miss Keane. "Go ahead Blossom... You're still the same brave little girl you always were." Miss Keane assured her. "You just have to believe it again." Blossom looked up at her for a moment, then back down at the bow. One shaky hand slowly reached out to take it from him, pulling it close to her.  
  
Suddenly Boomer broke straight through the roof of the building, slamming into the coffee table and shattering it on impact. "Ugh..." He sat up holding his back painfully.  
  
"What the..." The rest of the ruffs and puff looked up through the hole in the ceiling to see Buttercup and Bubbles still trying vainly to break down the skeletons bones. It didn't seem to be working too well. "What are they doing... Attack the..." Blossom paused, realizing what she was doing.  
  
"Go ahead Blossom... Show them how it's done." Butch said with an encouraging smile. "Lead the way."  
  
"Yeah, and we promise we'll do what we can to help you around the house from now on with people and stuff... But they need you now." Brick told her.  
  
"Here." Miss Keane took the bow from Blossoms hands and carefully put it back in its place in her hair, just like it had always been. "Now go on and do it Blossom. Afterwards I'll make you a nice big lunch, and let you take the rest of the day off." She said with a kind smile.  
  
Blossom looked up at her for a few minutes, then looked over at Boomer who had finally collected himself enough to watch the proceedings. She looked up at her sisters still circling the creature that bit and swiped at them furiously. A deep breath left her mouth as she stood up from Miss Keane's lap. Everyone watched her silently until she said three simple words.  
  
"Let's do it." She streaked up out of the building before the sound of her voice had even penetrated the others earlobes. Boomer shot up after her a split second later they streaked up to join the battle against the bony beast. "Bubbles, Buttercup, go for the spot where the left wing is attached to the body, we'll take the right!"  
  
"Blossom! You're here!" Bubbles exclaimed happily.  
  
"You heard the girl! Come on Bubbles!" Buttercup yelled. The blue and green streaks lunged for the left wing while the blue and pink ones darted for the right wing. Within moments bashing at the joints had torn both wings off the monster, sending it plummeting to the ground. It landed on its feet though... down but not out.  
  
"Now what?" Boomer asked quickly.  
  
"The spine, if we sever the spine it can't move!" Blossom announced quickly. The others nodded acceptance before all four of the streaked at the creature again. Blossom led the way, slamming into one of the vertebrae with enough force to send a shudder running along the length of the creature. The other three followed after her until finally Buttercups blow snapped it right off from the upper body. The skeleton let out a violent shudder before it finally collapsed to the ground in a heap.  
  
"Hah! Take that ya bag of bones!" Buttercup yelled at it as she struck a pose. Bubbles floated down beside her to examine the skeleton while Boomer floated up to Blossom, who just kind of hung back.  
  
"Hey are you okay?" He asked her a bit worriedly.  
  
"Yeah I'll be fine..." Blossom replied with a small smile. "After all... I may be the leader of the Powerpuff Girls... but I wouldn't be anything without them... Or you." She told him, smiling at him slyly.  
  
He smiled back out of the corner of his mouth. "Well I live to serve." He bowed playfully while Blossom chuckled a bit. She'd be fine. She would have to be...  
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July 4  
  
Being the leader of the Powerpuff Girls isn't easy, and I know it will never get any easier. My life will be as hard as it ever was... but for some reason it doesn't seem so bad anymore. Buttercup and Bubbles depend on me to figure things out because they really can't. And Boomer... Well Boomer's helped me more than anybody. Thanks to him and Butch I'm not going to run away from my responsibilities. Maybe I will spend my whole life serving everyone else as a leader, but now... because only I can... I think I want to. I will serve them all because I've realized every time I do, every time I figure it out, every time I stop a villain... It makes me happier than anything else ever could.  
  
Blossom Utonium 


	7. 206- Seductive Shadows

206- Seductive Shadows  
  
  
  
Bubbles happily lay on her stomach on the bed she shared with her two sisters coloring a picture she'd drawn herself with a box of markers. She liked to color more than anything else, but it seemed after she'd finished third grade she ran out of things to color. Some kids whispered that she'd finished every coloring book in Townsville. She didn't know about that, but she had taken to drawing her own pictures in pencil and then using markers to color them in.  
  
Everyone had been surprised at first that little baby Bubbles was making stuff like this on her own, but after a while they got used to it and said the pictures only got better and better. Right now she was working on coloring in a sketch she'd done of Brick and Buttercup snuggled together on the living room couch. They hadn't known she'd been watching them, but she was sure they'd really appreciate having a pretty picture to look at.  
  
She hummed lightly to herself as she colored in Buttercups green and black dress. In a few moments the bedroom door opened and both of her sisters floated in looking beat.  
  
"Man that's the last time I volunteer for a construction company..." Buttercup whined as she just threw herself onto the green stripe of the bed limply. Her and Blossom had gone out to do some good deeds since no monsters were attacking. The only people that needed help were Townsville construction who'd promptly put them to work. Bubbles had wisely stated that she had very important papers to work on... which she did. She just didn't say sit would only take her about ten minutes to finish them.  
  
"Tell me about it... Six hours straight of hauling things and breaking and carrying and welding and carrying and carrying..." Blossom agreed as the plopped down beside her brunette sister. It took a lot to strain the Powerpuff Girls, but sometimes working too much did get to them.  
  
"Here come look at the pretty picture I made!" Bubbles told them with a grin as she held up the just finished picture. Blossom pushed herself up to her elbows to take a look, smiling in admiration at the quality.  
  
"Man you're getting really good at that Bubbles." Blossom told her seriously. "You should start entering competitions."  
  
"Really? You think so?" Bubbles asked as a slight blush crept to her cheeks. Blossom nodded while Buttercup finally pushed herself up to take a look at the picture. She blushed even brighter than Bubbles when she saw it.  
  
"Hey, what's the big idea sketching me and Brick like that!" She demanded incredulously as she snatched the piece of paper from her sister.  
  
"Well I made it for you... I thought you'd like it..." Bubbles pouted somewhat at her sisters furious reaction. She'd thought she would like it.  
  
Buttercup sighed slightly as Blossom gave her an angry glare. "It's really good Bubbles... But it's embarrassing... you know?" She said reasonably. "How would you like it if we made a picture of you... uh... hm..." She tried to think of something Bubbles did that nobody else knew about, but their blond sister was completely open to everyone. She didn't hide anything. "It's just embarrassing."  
  
"Well it's only a picture, why is it embarrassin'?" Bubbles asked curiously as she took the picture back to study it intently. It was only a picture of Brick sitting on the couch with Buttercup in his lap. He had both of his arms around her and she was leaning her head on his chest with her eyes closed. Everything looked perfectly fine to her.  
  
"Because it's a picture of me and Brick being... well close... And you know me, I don't like people to see that kind of thing." She said, shooting a somewhat accusing glare at Bubbles both for drawing it and for spying on them. "So can I please keep the picture?"  
  
"Well I have to show it to Miss Keane first, then of course you can have it. I DID draw it for you." Bubbles reminded her.  
  
"Miss Keane..." Buttercup whined. "Bubbles Miss Keane is the LAST person I want to see that picture. Can't I just have it now? You can draw another... DIFFERENT picture later." Buttercup held out her hand for the picture insistently.  
  
"But this ones beautiful and I want to show it to Miss Keane." Bubbles held the picture away from her sister behind her back.  
  
"Bubbles give me the picture." Buttercup insisted.  
  
"No!" Bubbles shot back almost reflexively. Blossom shot between them before Buttercup could come up with a decent reply.  
  
"Okay calm down girls!" Blossom demanded quickly. "Buttercup, let Bubbles show Miss Keane the picture, she'll probably think she just drew it from her imagination anyway." She pointed out reasonably. Then she whirled on Bubbles, who was already sticking her tongue out at Buttercup. "Bubbles, stop spying on Buttercup and Brick, it's rude and invades their privacy." She stated.  
  
"Sorry Blossom..." Bubbles said softly.  
  
"Stupid little snoop..." Buttercup muttered under her breath as she floated back to the bed to lie down again.  
  
Blossom put one hand on her blond sisters shoulder and pulled her close to whisper. "Just between you and me, it's an incredible picture." She said with a proud smile on her face.  
  
"Wow, thanks!" Bubbles replied with a happy grin. She streaked downstairs to find their foster-mother while Blossom floated back to the bed to lie down again as well. She found her in the kitchen making dinner while the three boys in the house were crowded around the table already, playing a game of poker.  
  
"Look what I drew Miss Keane!" She exclaimed happily as she streaked up to the girls' guardian and caregiver. The older woman looked over at her kindly and took the picture to examine it.  
  
"Wow this is very good Bubbles." Miss Keane told her with a genuine smile. Then her eyes lit up as an idea struck her. "You know something Bubbles, there's a contest tomorrow that the school board is putting on to encourage little artists like you. If you like I could get this picture in, I'll bet you it would win." She said.  
  
"Really!?" Bubbles exclaimed with a happy grin. "Oh yes that would be great!" She said without even stopping to think about it. Something she drew in a contest, it would be so much fun. She could hardly contain her excitement... in fact she couldn't as the darn stuff kept creeping out in the form of giddy chuckles and a constant grin.  
  
"Alright I'll drop it off before the contest. The deadline's really over but I think I can pull a few strings." Miss Keane told her with a confident smile. "Now go get washed up for dinner, it'll be ready in a few minutes."  
  
"Okay!" Bubbles replied before she streaked up the stairs again heading for her room. She threw the door open, streaking up next to the bed instantly. "Girls, guess what!" She said, answering before either of her sisters even had time to open their eyes properly. "My picture's gonna be in a contest and Mis Keane thinks it'll win!"  
  
"That's great Bubbles..." Blossom said as she sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking around the room. "When is dinner..." Buttercup's eyes though shot open like a bullet and she slowly sat up to glare at her blond sister.  
  
"Which picture Bubbles..." She demanded in a dark voice. For a moment her sisters almost thought Mange had taken over, but her voice rose to its normal tone again as she floated toward Bubbles. "Which picture is going to be displayed..."  
  
"Um..." Bubbles stammered slightly, suddenly realizing just what she'd done. "Well you see... Uh... It..." She gulped slightly, knowing she'd really done it now.  
  
"Which... picture?" Buttercup asked again, putting her face right in front of her sisters'.  
  
Bubbles' lower lip trembled slightly under her sisters' stern glare until she finally managed to talk again. "Th... The one of you and Brick..." She looked down meekly as Buttercups eyes narrowed dangerously still glaring at her. "I forgot... I'm sorry..."  
  
"You're telling me a picture of me and Brick is going to be shown to everyone in school!?" Buttercup yelled frantically glaring at her sister. "Bubbles I thought you were only showing it to Miss Keane not the whole world!"  
  
"I did only show it to Miss Keane but she said she could get it in a contest and I was excited and I agreed but I forgot about what you said..." Bubbles replied quickly, putting her hands behind her back and running one foot across the floor. "I'm really really sorry..."  
  
"Oh my God... I'm going to die now..." The brunette fell backward limply, but Blossom caught her before she could hit the floor.  
  
"Will you relax Buttercup? It's only a drawn picture, it's not like she took a snapshot or anything." Blossom reminded her reasonably.  
  
"But we'll still be the laughingstock of the school! We're gonna be known as the snuggle bears or something stupid like that!" Buttercup replied fearfully. "I'm gonna be the... The... Lovey Dovey Powerpuffey!" She dropped to her knees in despair, her shoulders drooping.  
  
"Oh stop being so dramatic." Blossom told her sister with a smirk. "It's a picture! Like the Mona Lisa, people will be examining the artist not the subjects." The leader of the three tried to reason with her, but Buttercup was beyond all reason by now.  
  
"I'm gonna be laughed at by every villain in Townsville! Brick's gonna leave me because I'll be totally useless! The mayors gonna stop me from coming because I only make them all laugh and I'll be kicked out of the city for being a stupid lame superhero!" She burst into tears on the floor, the idea of being known to actually be intimate with someone was almost too much. She seemed to serious even Bubbles fell to the floor and hugged her comfortingly, sobbing as well.  
  
"I'm so sorry Buttercup! I'll write to you after you're kicked out!" Bubbles said in between sobs.  
  
"Thanks... I don't know what I'll do..." Buttercup said, sniffling sadly and just holding her sister.  
  
"Oh for crying out loud will you two knock it off?" Blossom said standing over the two of them. "Nobody is going to laugh at you Buttercup, and they're sure not kicking you out of Townsville just because Bubbles drew a picture of you."  
  
Before Buttercup could reply Miss Keanes voice shouted up to them from downstairs. "Dinner's ready girls!"  
  
"Coming Miss Keane!" Blossom shouted back down to her. She then turned back to her sisters who were still huddled on the floor in sorrow because of Buttercups 'imminent banishment'. "Now look, nobody is going to throw you out of the city for a picture. Bubbles already apologized for the mix up so why don't you relax and for once just be happy for your sister! Geeze." She threw her arms into the air in exasperation and went downstairs to join the others for dinner.  
  
The other two Powerpuffs just sat on the floor for a few minutes thinking things over until Mange finally spoke from Buttercups mouth. "If I get kicked out of Townsville because of you I'm gonna beat the crap out of you." She warned Bubbles in her dark, brooding voice. The blond girl just sighed and nodded her head in agreement before they both turned to head down to the dining room.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The following day during recess the entire school was gathered in the auditorium to see the art contest as it would progress. Bubbles was practically bursting with excitement in her seat to see her picture up by all of the rest while Buttercup just lounged in hers, depressed beyond belief.  
  
"What's the matter with you? You could show a LITTLE bit of encouragement for Bubbles." Brick said jokingly, putting one hand on his girlfriends shoulder. They didn't really do anything when other people could see, they didn't even talk a certain way, but this gesture could be taken as anything so was alright.  
  
"We're gonna be laughed out of school Brick... you think that's funny!?" Buttercup replied staring up at him incredulously.  
  
"We're not gonna be laughed out of school." Brick told her with a small smirk on his face. "It's just a picture and a very good one at that." He said with a firm nod. She still looked uncertain as the principal of Townsville Elementary went up to the podium.  
  
"Now I'm proud to announce the first annual Townsville Elementary school art competition." The principal said with a twinge of pride in his voice. Most of the audience applauded politely before he continued. "Now I bring you the artists of tomorrow... today." He pulled on a rope that dangled above him, revealing a row of pictures all pretty well drawn. One though drew gasps of utter shock and embarrassment from the entire crowd, and Buttercup nearly had a nervous breakdown right then and there.  
  
"Wh... WHO MESSED UP MY DRAWING!" Bubbles demanded in something that was halfway between a pained wail and a scream of anger. Someone had painted over certain portions of the drawing, effectively removing both Bricks pants and the lower part of Buttercups dress. "WHO DID IT!" She screamed again, turning to run her glare over the crowd. Nobody said anything, knowing that little look in her eye like she would beat up the next fly that flew in front of her face.  
  
Buttercup was redder than an apple by now just looking around her at all the stares of shock. Most were directed at the still fuming Bubbles, but she could see a few heads turned her way. A few chuckles had at her expense rang above the silence as well. She only gulped heavily, trying to calm herself down. She was a Powerpuff Girl, it was okay. It was a dumb prank; it's funny... that's why people are chuckling. A dumb funny prank... at her expense...  
  
After a few minutes a few of the stunned crowd members had to laugh. Whether it was because they actually thought it was funny or because the tension got to them was up for debate, but it caught on and others tried to help as well. Bubbles still fumed at having her pretty picture ruined by this stupid prank, but slowly tried to calm herself down. At least nobody thought SHE'D done it, and people were actually having a good time laughing about it... Except one person.  
  
[The mighty Buttercup, reduced to the town fool.] Mange spoke into Buttercup mind as she just looked around at the crowd, all laughing at the ridiculous image. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest rapidly, they were all laughing at her and Brick... This was worse than she'd ever feared. [Nobody will ever take you seriously again.] Buttercup felt her panic rising more and more in her chest as she looked around at the crowd, who was in an absolute uproar by now. They wouldn't stop, why wouldn't they stop? It wasn't funny it was embarrassing...  
  
Blossom was finally beginning to relax herself after the initial shock when she noticed Buttercup looking almost in a sheer panic amidst the throng of people around her. She recognized instantly what was wrong and tried to calm the crowd but her voice was drowned out easily by the uproar. In only a couple more second Buttercup streaked through the crowd in a straight line, ripping right through the crowd and shoving people roughly to the side in her eagerness to just get out. Blossom gave chase as quickly as she could, but Bubbles didn't really seem to notice as she tried to pry the paint off her drawing without ruining it.  
  
[You shoulda let me take care of 'em. They never woulda laughed at you again.] Mange told Buttercup as she streaked through Townsville as fast as she could, not really knowing where she was heading by any means. She didn't even reply to her darker half, just flying for the sake of getting away from the humiliation...  
  
"Got you!" Buttercup jumped a bit startled when Blossom grabbed her from behind trying to slow them down enough where they weren't in danger of slamming into anything. "Buttercup calm down, it's not what you think..." the leader of the three girls said in a sympathetic tone.  
  
"I know what I heard and everyone in there just laughed at me! I have NEVER been so humiliated... and it's all because of Bubbles and that stupid picture!" Buttercup howled angrily, letting her emotions vent on her more responsible sister. Her face was bright red from a mixture of embarrassment and rage. "Maybe I SHOULD have let Mange take them all! They all laughed at me, they don't care about me! Even Boomer and Butch were laughing!" She yelled.  
  
"Buttercup nobody was laughing at YOU!" Blossom pleaded with her sister to try and calm her down. "They were laughing at the situation... how ridiculous it all was. Don't you remember when you ripped all my hair out? How you said you weren't really laughing at ME?" She asked.  
  
"YOU weren't put in a picture like... like... THAT!" Buttercup screamed. "I thought just Bubbles' picture alone would be bad enough they had to go and spice it up even more!" She yelled.  
  
"That WAS wrong Buttercup, and whoever did it should be punished." Blossom agreed. "Now please just come back to the awards and I promise nobody will laugh again." She held out one hand almost pleadingly to her hot-tempered sister.  
  
Buttercup growled deep in her throat and stared at her sisters hand for a few minutes before speaking. "Oh alright..." She grumbled softly. "But so much as a chuckle and someone's getting hurt." She said.  
  
"Nobody will chuckle." Blossom promised as she grabbed her sisters hand with a smile. "Now come on, we should get back before someone realizes we're missing." She pulled her sister back with her toward the auditorium again just as the principal was once again straightening everything up to continue with the competition.  
  
Buttercup floated in with a smirk that only deepened when she saw Brick in the crowd talking to some girl she'd never seen before. She was obviously a bit older than they were since she was a bit taller and already had some partially formed attributes that seemed to hold his attention pretty well.  
  
"WHAT is going on here?" Buttercup demanded as she floated up to Brick, glaring at the other girl viciously.  
  
"Hey Buttercup, I was just waiting for you to get back. This is May Bee, she's new to Townsville and was just introducing herself." He replied giving her a quick smile.  
  
"Hi." Buttercup said simply as she grabbed Bricks hand and began to drag him away from the girl. She didn't trust anyone right now especially with her boyfriend.  
  
"Buttercup calm down..." Brick said softly as she squeezed a little too tightly on his wrist. Up on the podium the principal was just announcing the winner of the fourth grade contest.  
  
"And the winner... Bubbles Utonium for the ORIGINAL work." He said with a soft smile. They'd managed to pry much of the paint off though a lot still remained, making it look like something from a zombie romance movie. Before he could say anything else Bubbles streaked onstage to get in front of the mike for her acceptance speech. Nobody knew if she was supposed to talk or not, but decided to let her have it after the scare.  
  
"Thank you this is so exciting! I always draw beautiful pictures and it's nice to have a lot of people looking at them!" She grinned happily out at the crowd. Most of them were smiling back. "Though for this picture I think Buttercup deserves all the attention and happy smiles for everything!" She waved out at the crowd where Buttercup was just looking up, hearing her name called. "Come on up here Buttercup!"  
  
"Ah geeze..." Buttercup grumbled to herself as she let go of Brick to float up to the podium with Bubbles. "What is it?"  
  
"Thanks for letting me use the picture in the contest Buttercup! Here." She handed the small metal trophy that was painted gold to Buttercup. Bubbles hugged her sister tightly before turning back to the audience to give a happy cheer and throw one hand into the air, the other still around Buttercups shoulders.  
  
Buttercup just held the small trinket for a few moments, then sighed and smiled slightly. This wasn't so bad really. In fact it was rather nice having the attention until someone had to yell out. "Take it off!" as a joke about what happened earlier. A few people chuckled politely while others looked around for the source of the voice. Buttercup just tried to ignore it.  
  
"Yeah well uh... Thanks Bubbles and it is a pretty good picture I guess..." Buttercup said into the mike so she didn't look like a mute or something. Her eyes scanned the audience for whoever had made the previous remark. They went wide though when she saw May hanging onto Bricks shoulder like she was feeling weak or something. Leaning against him...  
  
"Thank you girls for that stirring speech." The principal finally decided to step in, gently pushing the two girls back down to the audience so he could proceed with the awards. Buttercup immediately made for Brick, but the other girl was gone by the time she arrived. Brick still had a somewhat dazed look on his face though.  
  
"Where is she?" Buttercup asked grumpily crossing her arms across her chest.  
  
"Huh? Oh she had things to take care of..." Brick replied, flashing her something of a reassuring smile. She still didn't like it though, she was being way too friendly with him... She's just have to keep a very careful eye out from now on...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
That night Brick walked through the city calmly heading towards where he'd agreed to meet her. She was beautiful there could be no doubt, when she was hanging onto him he would have agreed to absolutely anything... Luckily she'd only asked him to meet her in the park so they could have a little talk. He hadn't minded that, after all it was only a friendly talk.  
  
It was nearly eleven at night when he reached the park and approached the bench they'd agreed to meet at. He gasped when he saw her lying lengthwise on the bench. She was wearing a short plaid skirt and white low cut T-shirt that showed off seemingly more then they even tried to hide. He was sure if he just knelt down he could see even more too...  
  
"I've been waiting, come on have a seat." May told him as she swung her legs off the bench to give him room to sit. He was a bit disappointed that she was now covered but he sat beside her anyway, putting his hands in his lap and just staring down at the ground. "Am I so hideous that you can't even look at me?" She asked jokingly.  
  
"No you're pretty... I'm just kind of... nervous..." He replied, rubbing one hand on his arm. It was just a talk, everything was fine.  
  
"Nervous about little old May Bee?" She asked, putting on a pouty lip and pulling his face up to look at hers. "Why would you be nervous about me?"  
  
"Well because I have a girlfriend and... Well I love her and stuff..." He replied. No matter what he said though he couldn't have looked away from her if he'd been smacked in the head with a bowling ball.  
  
"Aaaawwww that's so sweet." May told him as she lowered his face near his. "But you're so young, how are you supposed to know if it's love unless you look at others too to see if you love them too?" She asked before putting her lips lightly against his for just a moment.  
  
"W... Uh..." He could only stutter as feelings went through his body he'd never felt before. He was sure he loved Buttercup, but holding her and kissing her had never affected him like this before... What was wrong with him?  
  
The feeling only grew when she kissed him again, putting her arms around him and pulling him a bit closer to her. He knew he should put a stop to this, but she felt so good against his body, he felt things now he'd never dreamed of before and something inside him told him it would only get better from here.  
  
He was right.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
She walked back into her modest apartment at nearly one in the morning after spending nearly two hours with that boy. She hated doing that; it always left a bad taste in her mouth... But with that taste came a feeling she always enjoyed... the feeling of conquest. They hadn't done everything of course, but it was enough for him to want her... to NEED her.  
  
Everything was going as he'd said it would. Brick was falling for her like a sack of bricks and Buttercup was wound up tighter than a wine bottle. Once she found out about her boyfriends little transgressions nothing would be able to stop the rampage Mange would embark upon. After tomorrow night Brick would never want to leave May's side again... Half of her mission was accomplished, but getting Brick to leave Buttercup for her still remained.  
  
She wandered into the living room with a drink to wash the taste out of her mouth as her form began to shift and waver, altered thanks to Him's gift to make her life much easier. It would be easy to make him hers... after all; no man or boy alive could withstand the temptress known only as Sedusa.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The next morning the events of the previous day were already forgotten by most of the students at Townsville Elementary. All except for Buttercup and Brick, who hadn't really talked at all since that girl had gotten to him the other day. Buttercup just knew she was trying to take him away from her for some reason.   
  
They simply walked down the halls surrounded by the rest of their brothers and sisters toward their classroom. Neither spoke to the other as Brick's gaze wandered around the hallway, probably searching for her...  
  
"Hey guys." Almost right on cue May walked up to the entire group, though her eyes never left Brick. "How is everyone feeling after that awful situation the other day?" She asked somewhat sympathetically.  
  
"Ah we've been through worse. We can take a few misunderstandings." Blossom replied.  
  
"Is that right Buttercup?" The new girl asked, looking straight down at the brunette puff. Her eyes practically looked like they were challenging her to say something contrary to that.  
  
"Of course..." Buttercup practically spat out like she was being forced to swallow raw sewage.  
  
"Good, then I'll see you tonight again Brick?" May asked looking up at the red haired boy. Buttercup looked up at him in surprise, thinking she was just trying to get to her but he smiled back and nodded.  
  
"Sure, sounds great." He replied. Buttercup couldn't be sure but he sounded almost too eager to see her alone...  
  
"Great, see you then." May flashed him a toothy smile before she turned and walked off down the hallway again, presumably to find her own classroom. Once she was gone Buttercup whirled on Brick angrily.  
  
"WHAT are you doing seeing her at night without telling me!?" Buttercup demanded angrily.  
  
"We're just talking, it's no big deal." Brick assured her quickly with a small pat on the head. He was almost treating her like she was a child. "She's new in town and wants me to show her around." He told her gently.  
  
"Calm down Buttercup." Blossom told her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "I know you're still upset about yesterday but there's no reason to take it out on your boyfriend." She said reasonably.  
  
"I'm not taking anything out on him, I just don't trust May..." Buttercup said darkly, staring after the girl. She wasn't sure, but she almost thought she saw Brick frown a bit before he turned suddenly to head toward the classroom. Buttercup frowned, but followed as everyone else began to move as well.  
  
"Well it's alright to not trust her, but don't you trust Brick?" Blossom asked simply. "Because if you don't you'd might as well go ahead and beat up every girl in school."  
  
"Yes of course I do..." Buttercup grumbled. "Just kinda beat... you know?" She asked as Her sister squeezed her shoulder gently.  
  
"I know exactly Buttercup. Don't worry so much." Blossom said with a smile. Buttercup just looked straight ahead until they finally reached the classroom. Blossom was right, being like this was only upsetting Brick and herself. She still wouldn't trust May though, and she would follow Brick tonight if she had to. She would NOT lose him to some stupid girl who just moved here.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
That evening Brick was still packing up a few things for his outing tonight. They were going to be awhile, so she'd thought they should bring something to wrap themselves in when it got chilly. He wasn't sure why a coat wouldn't do, but who was he to argue with the new girl in town?  
  
"Brick don't go." He turned around to see Buttercup floating in the doorway with an unusual look on her face. She looked just like she was totally serious and maybe just a little bit concerned about something. "I want you to stay here with me tonight." She said. There wasn't any hint of spite or anger or anything he might have expected after this afternoon. She was simply... sincere.  
  
"Relax Buttercup." He replied with a gentle smile. "I'm only showing her around. She's new and wanted me to help her find everything."  
  
"Then why at night?" Buttercup asked simply. "Why go out at night when it's hard to see much of anything? Why sneak around and carry a pair of blankets with you if you're only looking at buildings..." She questioned him, keeping her voice and gaze as steady as she possibly could.  
  
"It might get cold later." He put his things down and walked over to her, grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. She pulled away a bit at first, but finally just let him. "You don't have anything to worry about, you know I love you." He told her.  
  
"Yeah..." She whispered softly into his chest, hanging her shoulders against him. "I guess so..."  
  
"So relax, I'll be back later tonight and we can talk or whatever you want to do, okay?" He said, stroking her cheek gently.  
  
"Okay..." She replied, closing her eyes. "I'll be waiting in the living room for you..."  
  
"Okay." He kissed her lightly on the lips before he turned to finish packing his things up. "Remember, I'll be back later and I love you." He gave her one more smile before he turned to head out slowly, closing the front door behind him.  
  
Buttercup simply sighed to herself and sat down on the chair, fidgeting anxiously. She had to trust him, Blossom said things like this were based on trust so she had to go with that... He wouldn't go out with anyone behind her back, she knew that. They were meant to be together as long as they possibly could... So why was she still shaking?  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Brick smiled at May as they went inside the small warehouse on the edge of town. "Sometimes kids like to sneak down here during the day and just hide out." He informed her dutifully. Even as he spoke she was smiling at him and fiddling with her hair, nearly driving him wild with the memory of last night. "Nobody really comes out here at night though."  
  
"Really? Good." She said with a sly smile as she walked up to him. His breathing halted completely as she reached her arm toward him... and reached around him to grab one of the blankets. "Why don't we rest here then?" She asked as she spread it out on the floor. He finally let his breath go again and shook his head as he sat down beside her on the blanket.  
  
"So how long have you been in Townsville anyway?" He asked as they just sat there. He couldn't seem to look anywhere but at her, something about her just made him want to stare... to touch...  
  
"About a week or so... I'm lucky I found you too." She told him as she leaned toward him again with a small smile on her face. "I was totally lost." She smiled as her lips neared his.  
  
"Well glad to... help..." He said softly before she kissed him, gently pushing him down onto the blanket. He didn't know or really care what was going on this time. All he knew was that if it felt as good or even better than the night before, he would go home perfectly happy.   
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Three o'clock in the morning and still Buttercup waited on the chair, growing more and more angry, hurt, betrayed, tired, and paranoid with every passing second that he didn't walk through the door. Where was he? He should have been back hours ago really and still he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Several times she'd gone to look outside just to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep on the steps or something...  
  
Finally she got fed up with waiting and streaked out the front door, flying high up into the air to look around Townsville from a birds eye view. Her eyes pulsed with a green glow as she looked around the city for any sign of Brick and May. Thanks to Mange's powers she could see perfectly in the darkness of the night.  
  
Mange's night-sight granted her a view of the streets while her X-Ray vision let her look inside the buildings, and within moments she'd scanned pretty much the entire city. The only clue he had was a figure wrapped up in blankets in a warehouse by the shore. She'd seen a glint of red hair poking out of the covers, so she could only assume he was tossing in his sleep.  
  
She streaked down to the front of the warehouse since this wasn't really an emergency and made her way slowly inside. She could hear something from further in... two voices. But she'd only seen one from outside earlier... What was going on here?  
  
She floated into the main warehouse to see the blanket she'd spotted before writing in the center of the room, muffled cries coming from beneath it. In a few more moments the movement stopped and it simply continued to move up and down, as though someone beneath it was panting heavily.  
  
"B... Brick? A... Are you in there?" Buttercup asked a bit nervously. She jumped a bit when she heard a females voice laughing from somewhere in the room. It took her a moment to realize it was coming from the blanket.  
  
"You're too late Buttercup..." A sultry, but now familiar voice spoke, slightly muffled by the fabric.  
  
"What's going on here?" Buttercup demanded. She tried to sound brave and tough, but underneath it all her voice was shaking at just the ideas of what might have happened.  
  
The sheets rustled for a few moments as something moved about underneath them. Finally the far side was flung into the air and a figure let herself out, standing tall and turning to face the lone puff. "I think it's been a good while hasn't it?" Sedusa asked with a small smirk on her face.  
  
"YOU! You're the one responsible for this! No wonder Brick's been acting strange! Your brand of evil gives all women a bad name!" Buttercup exclaimed, lowing herself into a position to launch herself at a moments notice.  
  
"Now don't blame me if you just can't cut it... Isn't that right Brick darling?" Sedusa asked in a soft voice as the sheets finally came up again, revealing Brick had also been underneath them. He stood up and let the blanket fall to the floor as he walked up to the older woman.  
  
"B... Brick what... What's going on here... What did you do to him Sedusa!?" Buttercup demanded, though she was afraid the answer was painfully obvious.  
  
"I didn't do anything to him." The villain replied as she stroked the boys cheek. He simply stared up at her contentedly, almost lovingly. "He did it to me over and over and over again." She said with a small smile. "Quite amazing actually." She commented.  
  
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUP!" Buttercup howled as she threw herself at Sedusa in a green streak of light. She raised one fist behind her as she flew, ready to pound her into just a quivering mass of substance on the floor. Before she could reach the villain however Brick jumped in her way putting his arms out.  
  
"What the..." She barely managed to stop herself before she barreled right into him. The look in his eyes... he had to be under some sort of control. "Brick it's me, Buttercup." She pleaded with him to snap out of it.  
  
Calmly he raised one fist behind it and slammed it into her face as hard as he could. It didn't hurt, even when she hit the floor stunned. There was no physical pain from it at all, but that blow struck at the very heart of everything she'd managed to do. Her entire balance of emotions she'd built up to keep Mange under control began to tremble under the weight of the fury just waiting to be unleashed.  
  
She simply laid on the ground in shocked, betrayed silence while Sedusa put her arms around Brick, giving him a small kiss as a reward for taking down the Powerpuff Girl. She couldn't do anything as she turned to walk away with him. Nothing she could do as his hand slid down her back to rest on her butt as they simply walked away from her...  
  
Her fists clenched tightly as she felt it surging through her mind. Everything she'd known crumbled down around her in that instant, broken by the stress of the last two days ad now this, the ultimate betrayal... And for one of the worst kinds of villains... How could he do this to her?  
  
[They don't deserve your mercy.] Mange told her with something akin to eagerness in her voice. Buttercup didn't even reply, just let the darker side take over her body as long as she would help to get rid of this pain...  
  
Instantly Mange was up off the floor, her dark body pulsing with green streaks of energy from the pent up rage emanating from Buttercup, and thusly her since they were one and the same. She threw herself up through the roof of the building to take a quick look around. Sedusa and Brick were just climbing into what almost looked like a helicopter to fly away over the water.  
  
She instantly took off after them, the black shroud waving and moving eagerly through the darkness of the night as she thrust one dark tendril forward to catch the tail of the vehicle. More tendrils lashed out to grab the helicopter as a speaker on the bottom turned to face toward her.  
  
A high pitched squeal rang through the night suddenly, sending a surge of pain running through Mange's dark tendrils of power. She grunted and tried to hang onto the helicopter, but finally she felt her tendrils lose their grip and finally let go altogether.  
  
She plunged down into the calm ocean below her, trying just to hold her shadowy form together lest she fade back into her normal body. Finally she managed to pull herself back together and throw herself up out of the water in a gigantic wave, looking around her furiously for any sign of Sedusa and Brick. There was nothing out in the darkness now though... they'd vanished.  
  
Her dark shroud surged through the darkness as she felt the rage building inside of her. Everything was just wrong now, and there was nothing she could do now to set it even remotely right... Brick was gone with someone else now...  
  
A strangled scream of frustration filled the darkness as she thrust herself back toward Townsville, her body practically pulsing with green bursts of energy. Her cry echoed seemingly through the entire city. A cry of utter hatred and despair like nothing anybody had ever heard before. It was only a precursor though to the wave of dark rage that swept through moments later.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Bubbles shot up in bed along with her sister as the familiar buzzing sound of the Powerpuff Hotline filled their bedroom. They both streaked over instantly so Blossom could pick up the receiver.   
  
"Yes mayor?" She asked quickly.  
  
"Powerpuff Girls, there's a thing destroying Townsville! It's attacking anything that moves, we need your help!" The mayor shrieked as loudly as he possibly could. In the background they heard another voice speak.  
  
"Shut up shut up!" The voiced howled just before the line went completely dead. The two puffs just stared at the receiver for a moment before looking at each other.  
  
"That sounded like Buttercup..." Bubbles said softly.  
  
"We should get Boomer and head down to City Hall as fast as we can..." Blossom told her sister. "Come on!" Instantly they both streaked out of the room to collect Boomer and confirm that Buttercup was nowhere in the house. They didn't even bother to change out of their nightgowns and pajamas before streaking down to City Hall to see just what was going on.  
  
When they arrived none of them could say anything. Every building within a two-block radius of City Hall was in complete rubble and they didn't see any movement at all nearby. "Mayor!" Blossom exclaimed as they approached the rubble of the mayors' office. Finally they found the mayor and Miss Bellum just pushing themselves out of the rubble. "Are you two alright?"  
  
"We're fine girls..." Miss Bellum replied. "But you have to stop that thing before it levels all of Townsville!"  
  
"Yeah, that thing is destroying my city!" The mayor complained.  
  
"We know... Which way did it go?" Blossom asked softly.  
  
"That way!" They both pointed down the street to where a building was being literally torn to pieces from the inside out.  
  
"Come on guys..." Blossom said determinedly as she flew toward the building. Boomer followed instantly, but Bubbles hesitated a few moments before finally following the other two over to the building. Just when they arrived the entire building collapsed in on itself, sending up a cloud of dust and debris all around it.  
  
They stared into the dust confidently, waiting for it to clear enough to see the dark form of Mange standing amid the rubble. The darkness of her shroud seemed to pulse randomly with green energy. Her eyes weren't even remotely intelligent anymore, instead just destroying more on an instinctive hatred of anything she saw.  
  
"Mange, what are you doing out here!?" Blossom demanded. Mange simply turned to glare at her, her green eyes pulsing amid the shadows of the shroud that held Buttercups body from view. "You've already destroyed a large hunk of Townsville, what happened!? Why are you doing this!?"  
  
Mange didn't even reply, instead just glaring at the three standing in front of her. In a moment her gaze seemed to shift a bit to encompass only Boomer, who just stared back confusedly. She let out a furiously roar as she threw herself at him, the dark tendrils of energy lancing out to spear anything that got in their way.  
  
"Geeze!" Boomer exclaimed as he dodged furiously in a blue streak of light, darting and zipping through the shadows that reached out for him. One spear nearly got him but Blossom tackled him just in time, throwing them both out of the way.  
  
"Bubbles! Turn up the volume! Boomer, follow me!" Blossom yelled to the other two heroes. Both of the blue clad kids nodded before Bubbles took a deep breath, letting out a sonic-scream in Mange's direction. The shadowy body seemed to pulse and twitch painfully as the sonics disrupted the flow of energy that sustained it.  
  
She whirled on Bubbles quickly, her shroud reaching out for the blond puff instantly to silence the scream. While she was distracted though Blossom and Boomer flew in from behind to grab hold of Buttercups physical arms beneath the shroud, holding them tightly. The darkness immediately turned back to strike at the two that were holding her, wrapping itself around them tightly and not letting go.  
  
They didn't let go either though, and they held her long enough for Bubbles to streak in from the front and plant several punches to her chest and face, ending with a strong kick to the jaw that sent her flying to the ground a few feet away. She slowly began to push herself to her feet again, but the two blue clad puffs lunged forward to grab her again so Blossom could freeze her on the spot, halting her attack right there as the ice encompassed her body.  
  
"What do we do now..." Bubbles asked, panting a bit from both the fight and the fear of not knowing what was wrong with her sister.  
  
"As it is she's a threat to Townsville, us, and herself... We really have no choice..." Blossom told her sadly. "We have to lock her up until she comes to her senses..." She sighed slightly while Bubbles frowned sadly, hugging herself against the sudden chill that seemed to blow through Townsville.  
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"Her two consciousness' are warring over how she should feel... who should have control." Patrisha Tuyoma told them as they stood in front of the window that was the only was to see into the chamber Mange had been placed inside. They couldn't really see much though since there were no lights inside. There was an electrical field surrounding the entire room so she couldn't escape. "One wants to be angry... go on a rampage. The other just wants to break down and cry, but doesn't want to show weakness."  
  
"Can I go in and see her?" Bubbles looked up at the professor sadly.  
  
"It might be dangerous... but I trust you can get out if she makes any sudden moves..." Professor Tuyoma replied as she reached for the controls to open the door and drop the shield just in that section.  
  
Bubbles walked inside, staring into the shadows that covered the entire room nervously. "B... Buttercup?" She asked softly. At the sound a pair of pulsing green eyes appeared suddenly in the darkness to study her intently. "I hope you get better soon... It's sure been peaceful around the house without you." She joked with a small smile. There was no response though, just those two eyes glaring at her.  
  
"I brought something I drew for you this afternoon after school... I didn't have time to finish it but I thought you might want it now." She reached into her dress to pull out a small piece of paper and set it on the ground in front of her. "It's not colored in... but I hope it helps..." She said as she took one step toward the door. "I'll come visit you sometimes I promise..." With that she gave one more smile before turning to leave, the door closing behind her firmly.  
  
The window shudder closed as well soon after, leaving Buttercup cloaked in the darkness of the room. Curiously she reached out one tendril to pick up the piece of paper and take a look at it since her eyes could see perfectly in the darkness. It was a pencil drawing of her and Brick, like the one before. It was a replacement for the one that had been ruined before.  
  
She hand one hand across it slowly, thoughts seething through her mind in a furious wave. "I love him... he betrayed me... he was tricked... I hate him... It wasn't his fault... He lied to me... I'm sorry... I wanna kill him..." She murmured constantly to herself in the darkness like a chant as she held the drawing close to her body.  
  
So she sat huddled in the darkness muttering to herself in a string of nearly incoherent babble. She was confused by her own inner turmoil, baffled by the events that had occurred. She didn't know whose fault it was, she didn't want to hate Brick but she couldn't help it... She didn't know how to feel... So she tried to feel nothing at all. She just let the darkness hold her in its safe... Seductive embrace...  
  
THE END 


	8. 207- The Secret Of The Chemical

207- The Secret of the Chemical  
  
  
The harsh glow of hellfire was the only light in the dark caverns that rested beneath the dimensional plane of Earth. Him's domain surged with evil power as its master paced around the center of the room trying to consider a new method to fight the only things standing between him and total control over the universe. Everything had been tried but still no matter how close he came the Powerpuff Girls always came out on top. He needed to find a way to turn them against each other but that never worked. He could fight fire with fire... but that stupid monkey Mojo Jojo already tried that... But they came back good... why was it the Rowdyruff Boys again...  
  
He suspected there was something to this... Professor Utonium created the Powerpuff Girls with the best ingredients for girls... and Mojo created the Rowdyruff Boys with the worst ingredients for boys... Then they came back with good ingredients for boys... It was always two sides of the same coin. Boys and girls, good and evil... Four separate possibilities for the same group of three... The Creatures of the Chemical-X.  
  
An evil grin spread across his face as he realized there was still one card that had yet to be played. One part of the cycle had yet to be utilized... The dark sides of the Powerpuff Girls themselves... But he needed the proper ingredients for cunning, nasty little girls. With Buttercup out of the way, them combined with the newest member of his little organization would outnumber the current good squad four to three.  
  
He let out a dark laugh as Brick simply stood unmoving beside Sedusa. He was controlled of course by the hormones Him had created for just such a purpose. He was useless as he was... but the demon knew there was a way to make him much more than he currently was... he just had to replace this flame with another...  
  
So the hours passed and still he hunted for the proper ingredients, as well as preparing for the ceremony which would tip the scales in his favor. Finally he'd gathered the best possible ingredients for the dark side of girlhood, as well as the precious chemical X that would grant the ingredients life. Even he didn't know exactly how it worked or why it made these three forms... but he would use anything to his advantage.  
  
"A serpent..." He said as he reached down to pick up a python which promptly coiled around his arm. Sedusa stepped back at the site of it wearily, and Brick followed but Him didn't budge at all. "So beautiful and sinuous..." He said in sweet, dulcet tone of voice. His voice abruptly grew darker however as the serpent bared its fangs, practically dripping with poison. "Yet so very venomous." He dropped the serpent into the small crater he'd chosen before reaching for the next ingredient.  
  
Next he held up a spider which simply perched on his claw calmly. He again spoke in his soft, flutelike voice. "A Black Widow spider... So beautiful and graceful..." His voice grew darker again. "Yet so dangerous to love." He dropped the spider in as well in a moment. Oddly the two creatures paid each other no mind as Him reached for the third and final ingredient.  
  
"The essence of darkness..." He studied the dark sphere clutched in his claw intently. It pulsed with an inner darkness nothing else could hope to compare with. He threw it into the crater along with the two animals before pulling out the substance that would give his creations form. Chemical X.  
  
"Arise girls of my own heart, a heart of destruction, death, and despair." He said darkly as he poured the precious liquid into the crater. The entire thing began to shudder and pulse with energy as the reaction grew larger than anything he'd seen before with any ingredients... In a few moments though he figured it out. The precision of the ingredients was key to making a powerful being. Good ingredients or bad... This was why the Powerpuff Girls own attempt failed so miserably.  
  
"Yes, rise my creations, breathe my servants, come to me my demons." He hissed darkly before an explosion rocked the entire cavern, sending Sedusa and Brick flying back against one of the nearby walls. Him though just waited unaffected for the fruits of his labor to rise from the crater and help him begin his own reign of darkness on the citizens of the world.  
  
In a moment three streaks of light flew from the hole and slammed into the ground right beside is, each of the three introducing themselves promptly.  
  
"Blossom!" she looked virtually identical to the other Blossom, but in keeping with what he'd learned during the Rowdyruff Boys fiasco her voice had a rougher tinge than her counterpart. She struck a tough post with her arms across her chest quickly.  
  
"Bubbles!" In complete contrast with her counterpart her voice was almost seductive and she struck a post with her back aimed forward and winking over her shoulder enticingly.  
  
"Buttercup!" Her voice was perhaps even darker than Mange and she struck almost a brawling post beside her sisters.  
  
"We're the Powerpuff Girls!" They announced proudly.  
  
"Yeees yeeeeeessssss..." Him chuckled evilly in his shrill voice as he approached the three newly created Powerpuff Girls. "You are the Powerpuff Girls my little demons, and thanks to you my conquest over the world will be completed." He said before chuckling mirthfully.  
  
"Why should we help you tan-head?" Blossom demanded angrily.  
  
"Because I am your MASTER!" Him told them in no uncertain terms. He softened up just as quickly in a moment though. "And between you and the fourth superhero we have at our disposal, those goody-goody's won't stand a chance.  
  
"We HAVE no master!" Buttercup insisted quickly, floating right up in Hims' face and puffing out her chest proudly. "We're the Powerpuff Girls!" One red claw instantly clamped onto her head, pulling her close as she struggled to break free from the painful grip.  
  
"You'll be the Pancake Girls if you do not do my bidding." He said in his dulcet tone. His eyes though left no doubt in any of the girls' minds that he could and would crush them all. He wished he could crush the original girls, but Damien and Deliah's decree forbid it or he was disqualified. "Now what I want you to do is... Hit the town and have fun!" He said, gesturing grandly to the image of Townsville that appeared in front of the girls.  
  
"Are you serious?" Blossom asked in surprise as she stared at the image. "Just... do what we want?" She stared up at him suspiciously. "This isn't some kind of trick is it?"  
  
"Of course not. Just make your presence felt and enjoy yourselves. He told them as he watched them intently.  
  
"Now this is my kind of order!" Buttercup exclaimed with a grin before she streaked into the image in a green trail of light. She went right through to Townsville itself... it was more of a window than just an image.  
  
"Yeehoo, clubhopping!" Bubbles yelled as she threw herself into the image as well, heading down to Townsville in a streak of blue light.  
  
"Might as well scope this place out, see just what damage we can do to this place." Blossom said before she too streaked through the rip in space and into Townsville. The window closed behind her as Him turned to his screen to watch the events that would ensue. This would prove very interesting... The Powerpuff Girls versus the Powerpuff Girls...  
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Buttercup floated along the streets of the city itching for some kind of action. Nobody was around at the moment though, so she decided to wake someone up. "Rise and shine!" She yelled as she threw herself at a nearby apartment building. The wall of the fifth floor broke open easily, scaring the heck out of that rooms occupants.   
  
They jumped from their bed and huddled across the room from her fearfully. "That's right ya weaklings! Cower like the insects you are because now The Powerpuff Girls OWN this city!" Buttercup announced proudly. Then she floated slowly toward the couple. "Or rather... cower while you can..." She lunged at them in an instant in a green flash of light. Her laugher echoed through the entire building as she continued her destruction.  
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Bubbles floated up to a small building with a sign that read 'Ringos Bar and Dance Club'. "Wicked, a bar." She grinned to herself as she floated inside. There were people all over the place dancing and having a good time, some had even decided to take time out for more mature activities. "Now THIS is fun!" She exclaimed as she moved to join them. A hand on her arm stopped her in a moment though.  
  
"Um, Bubbles, this is a grown-up place. You know kids aren't allowed in here." He told her reasonably. She was hardly in a mood to be reasonable though. So she grabbed him by his shirt collar and hurled him across the entire dance floor to slam into one of the booths in the back, shattering it on impact. The music halted and the dancers all turned to gape at her in surprise.  
  
"What are you all looking at!? KEEP DANCING!" Bubbles ordered angrily. They followed her order though most of them now danced more stiffly than before and glanced at her nervously. She didn't pay any attention though as she floated to the middle of the dance floor, just letting the music move her body wherever it wanted to go. "Yeheah!" She cried wildly.  
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Blossom floated high above the city, looking around for any mischief she could cause. Little offered since it was nearly midnight and most of Townsville's citizens were already asleep. She finally spotted City Hall looking very empty and vulnerable in the dead of the night... When opportunity knocks, one has to answer.  
  
She streaked over quickly and broke straight into the mayors' office. Everything looked like it was tucked neatly into its place as it should be. Nothing was out of place... But she would fix that.  
  
Silently she floated up to the desk and pulled out the shelf containing the laws and legislation that ran Townsville. She could wreak real havoc just by re-writing a few lines of this and forging the mayors' signature. So she took a few of the documents and erased part of them with her heat vision, writing over the empty spaces with thing she thought would be quite interesting...  
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Blossom woke up the next morning to the familiar blaring buzz of the Powerpuff Hotline ringing and lighting up its little light. She instantly streaked out of bed to answer it while Bubbles shot over to join her. "What's the problem mayor!?" She asked quickly. To her surprise Miss Bellum spoke instead of the mayors usual fumbling voice.  
  
"Girls, the mayor and I would like to see you in his office this morning. We have something to discuss." She said calmly. For some reason though Blossom had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach about this.  
  
Boomer floated into the room as she hung up after listening in on the phone in his room. "What do you think this is all about?" He asked curiously staring at the two girls. They just shrugged confusedly.  
  
"Whatever it is I don't think it's just a house-call..." Bubbles commented wisely.  
  
"Whatever it is we won't find out standing here. Come on." The three of them quickly got dressed before streaking out to head to City Hall. When they got there they found Miss Bellum waiting for them alone in front of the mayor desk. "Where's Mayor?" The leader asked.  
  
"I didn't think he should be here right now so I sent him home... I need to talk to you girls about something and I want you to answer me very honestly... Where were you last night?" She asked carefully.  
  
Blossom and Bubbles glanced at each other in confusion while Boomer just stared at them wondering what they did. "We slept in bed all night of course." Blossom said finally. "Just what is going on here?" She demanded.  
  
"Somebody decided to wreak havoc in Townsville last night... and I have some pictures she had taken." Miss Bellum told them. She sounded a bit nervous though. "Uh... Boomer... why don't you wait over here." She grabbed the boys arm and dragged him off to the side.  
  
"What I can't see the pictures!?" Boomer said irritably. "Stupid girls always excluding boys..." He grumbled to himself.  
  
"Now remember Bubbles... We don't think for an INSTANT that you'd do something like this. I'm only showing you just who terrorized Townsville last night." Miss Bellum said firmly.  
  
"Why would you think I did anything?" Bubbles asked curiously. Miss Bellum just took a deep breath and showed them the first photograph. Blossom went pale white and Bubbles blushed pure orange. They two girls only stared speechlessly as the older woman cycled through the pictures. Finally Bubbles broke down and grabbed her sister, hugging her furiously. "I didn't do it I don't do it it's not ME!" She yelled between sobs.  
  
"We know Bubbles." Blossom said as she hugged her sister reassuringly.  
  
"Didn't do WHAT!?" Boomer demanded.  
  
"So you see why we have such a big problem here Blossom." Miss Bellum said as she put the pictures on the desk behind her.  
  
"I sure do, that's horrible!" Blossom said disgustedly. Silently Boomer snuck behind Miss Bellum to grab the pictures off the desk and take a look at them.  
  
"Whoa, I didn't know girls could DO that..." His eyes went wide when he saw the nature of the pictures.  
  
"Boomer! Put... The pictures... Down!" Blossom commanded angrily. He quickly tossed the pictures back on the desk and grinned sheepishly. Blossom shook her head and turned back to the adult in the room. "Don't worry Miss Bellum, we'll wait for these fake Powerpuffs tonight and take them down for ruining our good name." She said.  
  
"I know you will..." Miss Bellum said softly as she looked down at Bubbles again who was still hysterical. "Is she going to be okay?"  
  
"Oh sure I think she'll be fine once the shock wear off..." Blossom replied with a slight smile. "Come on Boomer, we're leaving." She glared at him again just as he was reaching for the pictures again.  
  
"Oh uh... Right! Let's go!" He blushed and streaked out of the room before the Blossom followed behind him carrying Bubbles in her arms. The blond Powerpuff was still frantic over the images of her doing things she probably didn't know she could physically do. Of course Boomer gawking at it didn't help much...  
  
She just sighed softly to herself as they raced toward home. What was done was done, they just had to be ready for tonight when the imposters would return...  
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"Very gooood Powerpuff Girls." Him said gleefully as he watched the aftermath of the girls meddling. Three apartment buildings had been demolished by Buttercup. Whispers and rumors abounded about Bubbles' late night jaunt through the Townsville night scene. Blossom hadn't done much, but her small meddling with the laws of Townsville had everyone in City Hall in a complete tizzy trying to figure out what had happened. Disorder, chaos, destruction, he could have never expected better.  
  
"That was fun! Let's go out again tonight!" Buttercup exclaimed excitedly. "I think I saw a few people escape from that third building."  
  
"You will girls, you will..." Him told them as he looked over at the former Rowdyruff Boy, who still waited silently by Sedusas' side. She looked kind of irritated at being blown off after their deal before. "But first I need to tip the scales in your favor..." He finished as he moved to approach Brick.  
  
"When do I get what I asked for?" Sedusa said angrily. "And don't tell me later." She said. She gasped when one claw closed around her throat, dragging her face-to-face with him.  
  
"Very well then... Never, now get out of my sight." Him demanded before he threw her into the solid wall to his side. She slunk to the ground weakly as he approached the practically comatose Rowdyruff Boy. "Now... to tip the scales of power all I need to do is bring back the spirit that resided in your counterpart..." His claws pulsed darkly as he reached them forward and gripped the boys arms. He screamed loudly and twitched as it tore through him forcefully, pushing his very soul out of its confines...  
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"Whoa..." Brick rubbed his head tenderly as he sat up on what looked like little more than a patch of land floating in a vast sea of colors which always swirled and meshed together in a random pattern. The last thing he could remember he was on the blanket with May... They were starting to do things and then he... couldn't remember anything.  
  
"Hello Brick." He looked over quickly to see a middle aged man in a white lab coat watching him from a similar island not too far away. He had a pipe stick out of one mouth and a kind twinkle in his eye as he watched him. "I was hoping no more of you would wind up here." He said.  
  
"Where am I..." Brick asked even though he was more curious about who this was. He felt like he should know but he didn't.  
  
"This is Eternity... Though with any luck your stay won't be very long. The current battle is pushing the rules to their very limits." The man replied calmly.  
  
"Alright then who the hell are you?" Brick finally asked as he stood up to face the man in case he was an enemy.  
  
"Professor Jonathan Utonium... I don't believe we met before I met my... fate." The man replied with a small smirk. Professor Utonium... the creator of the Powerpuff Girls. But that meant...  
  
"I'm... dead?" Brick asked fearfully.  
  
"Yes and no." The Professor replied seriously. "You're here but your body is quite well and there's a chance you can get back to it... if you can face your darker half." He said.  
  
"My darker half... what? Just what is going on here?" Brick demanded. The Professor nodded in response and almost instantly they were in what looked like a schoolroom with a big projector at the front.  
  
"Try to keep up because I will not repeat this." Professor Utonium said as he pushed a button. A flask of Chemical X came up on the screen. "This is Chemical X, something I created in my search for perfection, a search that I never knew would have such far reaching consequences. It's composed of rare chemicals and substances found only in certain places on the planet... Little study was ever made of any of them."  
  
He clicked the button again and this time a picture of the three girls came up. "I eventually used this largely questionable chemical to create the Powerpuff Girls... But I never knew the chemicals real potential until I came here. I don't think even Him knows of what it CAN do."  
  
He clicked another button showing the Powerpuff Girls on the left, the Rowdyruff Boys in the center, and Powerpuff Bunny on the right. "My search for the perfect little girls led me to combine the chemical with things that little girls were made of... and it worked. The perfect little girls, everything I had hoped for. Then of course Mojo Jojo used it to create the original Rowdyruff Boys, once again getting exactly what he wanted, three little boys to combat the Powerpuff Girls." He said seriously.  
  
Brick suspected he was beginning to understand what the Professor was trying to say, but still the lesson continued. "Powerpuff Bunny was created when the girls simply wanted a helping hand... but all of them wanted something different. Their mixed up ideas and wishes caused them to create... something of a monster."   
  
He paused a moment before hitting the button again, this time bringing up a picture of Buttercup and the Rowdyruff Boys. "Then Buttercup used Chemical X to re-create the Rowdyruff Boys as good guys and see if she had a soul... and she got everything she wanted. She got you three. Yes I have been watching from up here." He took a moment to glare at Brick like a father glared at his daughters' first boyfriend.  
  
"And now... Him has created more evil Powerpuff Girls, also with Chemical X he got from my former employers." He finished his lesson finally and turned off the projector. "It would seem in my desire to create the perfect little girls I created something that could be more dangerous than anything the girls have ever fought... If any villain knew about the true properties of Chemical X..." He trailed off at the thought.  
  
"They could get the right ingredients to make literally invincible monsters... anything they wanted to make would be theirs." Brick realized. His heart skipped a few beats when he realized that. "But how Professor... how does a chemical react to thought?"  
  
"I don't know... Something in one of the substances I used I suspect. But the more I look at everything that's happened the more convinced I am that this is true. Brick, you have to get back and get the girls to destroy all of the remaining Chemical X at TekTron." He said.  
  
"How am I supposed to get back though Professor?"  
  
"You have to strike at the one who's still controlling your body and beat him... I'll help you prepare." Professor Utonium informed him gravely. Brick just gulped and nodded back as he felt something twisting in his stomach. He had a bad feeling about this, but he had to try SOMETHING.  
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"We're ready, right guys?" Blossom asked to make sure they were all awake and ready to strike these fake puffs when they showed up. It was almost midnight and they were all tired, but they had to stay awake. She was counting on a battle here to keep them up enough to function.  
  
"I'm fine." Boomer replied obediently. She'd given him quite a tongue lashing for trying to sneak the pictures out of the mayors' office. "Right Bubbles?" He looked over at his other side to see Bubbles curled up on the roof they were staked out on, sleeping peacefully with Octi held snugly in her arms.  
  
"BUBBLES!" Blossom screamed as loud as she could to wake her sister up.  
  
"Wah! I'm up I'm up!" Bubbles exclaimed as she shot upright, ready to fight. "Where are they!?"  
  
"Not here yet. We have to stay up or we'll be groggy when they get here." Blossom said reasonably.  
  
"But I'm already groggy..." Bubbles complained with a soft yawn since she wasn't really needed. She plopped her butt down on the roof irritably to wait for something to happen. "How do we even know they'll come back?"  
  
"If they're really out to ruin our reputations they'll be back to make us look even worse." Blossom reasoned.  
  
"Why am I out here again?" Boomer asked curiously. "I have nothing to do with this."  
  
"Because Buttercup's out of action and from what Miss Bellum told us there are three of them... besides you're a superhero and have an obligation to help us." Blossom told him.  
  
"Oh yeah..." Boomer said with a soft sigh. They all jumped in surprise when three streaks slammed into the bottom of the building, making the whole thing shudder. They floated quickly off of the roof as the whole thing caved inward in a shower of dust and debris. "What the hell!?" He exclaimed as the three heroes watched the dust settle. Finally the cloud died down and three figures hovered above the rubble...  
  
"Who are you!?" Blossom demanded as her, Bubbles and boomer floated down to face the three that just stared back at them with evil smirks on their faces.  
  
"We're the Powerpuff Girls!" The other Blossom announced as the three struck a pose. "And we're here to clean up Townsville!"  
  
"Yeah, people have been peaceful and happy around here for too long!" Buttercup added at her side. "Well we won't stand for it!"  
  
"It's BORING!" Bubbles said on the other Blossoms side. "We want to have fun!" She said firmly. All three girls nodded in agreement with that sentiment.  
  
"So YOU'RE the ones who ransacked Townsville last night!" The good Blossom yelled angrily. "We're Townsville's defenders not it's destroyers!"  
  
"Yeah, and YOU must be the one in those pictures!" Bubbles yelled at her counterpart. "You made people think I was... I was... something I'm not!" She yelled, not really knowing what it was the pictures made her look like.  
  
"You... Uh..." Boomer blushed brightly as he stared at the blond that was floating just opposite of him. She giggled seductively and blew him a kiss, making him blush even brighter. "Well... Er..."  
  
"BOOMER!" Blossom and Bubbles said simultaneously to snap him out of his daze. He blinked his eyes quickly and shook his head to clear it, immediately taking the same vicious look on his face that the girls had.  
  
Blossom rolled her eyes before turning back to their opponents. "I would think twice if you want a fight, it's three on three and we ALWAYS win when the odds are fair!" She said proudly sticking out her chest.  
  
"Then let's make them UNFAIR!" The three heroes whirled when a familiar hoarse voice came from behind them. Brick floated down in the air calmly as though it were perfectly normal. The weirdest thing though was he was back in his five-year-old body, just like he had been. His eyes showed recognition, but they were filled with hatred and a lust for revenge and his voice was as hoarse as it had been long ago.   
  
"Brick!?" Bubbles yelled confusedly. "But how..."  
  
"That's not OUR Brick!" Blossom realized, keeping a close eye on the four enemies that now surrounded them.  
  
"That's right the bad boy's back!" Brick said proudly! "And you three wimps are going down! Especially you, you Rowdyruff traitor!" He snarled viciously as he glared at Boomer.  
  
"Blossom what do we do? There's four of them." Bubbles asked worriedly.  
  
"Nothing we can do Bubbles, except FIGHT." Blossom replied, staring at the evil Buttercup who was taunting her from the other side. So the three heroes threw themselves at the other Powerpuff girls, instantly dissolving into a furious melee with good Blossom fighting Buttercup, good Bubbles fighting Blossom, and Boomer facing off against Bubbles.  
  
Bubbles had to choke down the feeling that she was fighting her sister as she threw several punches at her opponent. She proved to be a hard target though as she whirled, throwing several kicks into Bubbles' head and throwing her back into the sky.  
  
"I won't let you beat me!" Bubbles said determinedly as she flew at Blossom again as fast as she could. She was halted though when someone caught her from behind, pinning her arms at her sides. "Ah! What's going on!?" She exclaimed fearfully.  
  
"Not so tough now are ya Pussypuff?" Brick asked with a dark chuckle as Blossom approached her from the front with an evil grin on her face.  
  
"Blossom!" Bubbles called out for her sister just before the first blow landed in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She would have gone flying if Brick weren't holding her tightly. More blows followed in a quick procession, all over her face and torso until finally Brick let her go and she fell to the street below, groaning painfully.  
  
"Bubbles!" The leader of the good Powerpuff Girls yelled as she saw her sister plummeting to the ground. Buttercup had her occupied though and she couldn't get free from their battle.  
  
The green puff whirled in a huge kick, but Blossom ducked down out of the way and countered with an uppercut to her stomach, sending her into a head over heels flip. She whirled to plant her own kick but Brick caught her and threw her away from her opponent before she could land it.  
  
"Ragh!" She screamed in frustration, there were too many of them... and where the HELL was Boomer during all of this? Him and the other Bubbles had vanished seemingly immediately. She didn't have time to dwell on it though as Blossom, Buttercup and Brick all advanced on her at once with her Bubbles already down.  
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The roof of the apartment building caved instantly from the impact of Bubbles being thrown through it and to the floor with a huff. Boomer streaked in after her and slammed into her stomach, sending them both five stories down through the floor and into the basement where she slammed into the pavement hard. The Rowdyruff Boy floated after her with his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
"This is all I get from one of the evil Powerpuff Girls?" He asked with a derisive smirk. "This is pathetic."  
  
"Well as they say..." Bubbles said in a soft, dulcet voice as she pushed herself slowly to her feet. "I'm a lover, not a fighter." She let her hips sway a bit as she floated up toward him, moving her legs as though she were walking up an invisible flight of stairs and swaying her hips. "So you saw my pictures..." She giggled enticingly. "So you know what I can... Do." She said softly.  
  
He just stared at her as she approached him, looking extremely uncomfortable despite his confident stance. "Are we gonna... fight or what...?" He asked, backing away as far as he could until he bumped into the wall.  
  
"I was thinking I would rather do 'or what'..." Bubbles replied as she floated right up next to him to rub one hand gently along his stomach. "Unless you have a complaint." She giggled softly at his almost panicked expression as her hand snaked its way a bit more downward. He knew this was dangerous, she'd probably kill him once she got his guard down... but his body just wouldn't move from that spot.  
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Blossom grunted painfully as she slammed into a solid game machine inside one of the Townsville casinos. She slid slowly to the ground and clutched her side, trying to make herself get up again. It was too much though, with the three of them and Bubbles still unconscious there was really nothing she could do. She didn't stand a chance against three other puffs. The moment she tried to strike one the other two swarmed her.  
  
She slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees as the other Blossom floated down in front of her with an evil smirk on her face. "Well what do you say now? I do think we've won." She said proudly just before Brick and Buttercup grabbed Blossoms arms and held her up. "And there's not a thing you can do about it... so you might as well give up.  
  
"I'm a Powerpuff Girl... I never give up, and I never lose." Blossom replied. "Especially not to half-baked fakes like you." A quick punch to the gut silenced her for a few moments while the other Blossom shook her head drolly.  
  
"Just don't know when to keep your mouth shut." She said with a slight shrug as she drew her fist back to continue the barrage of blows. Blossom tried to brace herself, but the blows never came. A high pitched wail echoed through the entire casino just before a blue streak of light whizzed by everyone, grabbing Blossom and carrying her up toward the already caved in roof.  
  
"Bubbles..." She whispered weakly as her sister struggled to keep in flight. She was obviously still hurting from her pounding earlier, but that didn't stop her from helping her sisters.  
  
"We've got to get out of here..." Bubbles squeaked painfully as she looked around at the sky. "Where's Boomer?" She asked when she suddenly realized he was nowhere in sight. The two girls looked around frantically for him, but both had a very bad feeling he might already be down for the count...  
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"Uhn..." Boomer grunted slightly in surprise when he felt her hand feeling around inside of his pants searchingly. He had to move to get out of there... but it felt so damn good... "Can't we talk about this... Get to... know each other..." He asked, knowing it was pretty much hopeless at this point. He was doomed unless he could make himself push her away... his body didn't want to cooperate with that plan though.  
  
Bubbles just giggled and pushed herself up against him a bit more. "Why talk when we can get so much more... intimate?" She asked seductively as she ran her tongue across his cheek. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to block out the feelings she sent through him, but it was like trying to stop a freight train in a tunnel.  
  
He felt her lips touch his as her hand worked at its mark, making sure he wouldn't go anywhere. Slowly he managed to lift his hands and push her away slightly. "At least let me... Take your dress off first." He told her with a soft, regretful sigh. She gave a grin of triumph as she lifted her arms over her head so he could do it.  
  
He reached down and grabbed the hem of her dress, pulling it just halfway off of her so it covered her head... then did a quick flip, slamming his feet into her face and sending her flying to toward the ground. In an instant he pushed himself off of the wall with his feet and slammed into her in mid-air, shoving her into the solid cement floor even harder.  
  
He floated just above her unconscious form, lying half-clothed on the ground unconscious. "You almost had me..." He told her almost regretfully. "But your kiss tasted like evil..." He said softly before he turned and streaked up through the hole they'd made in the building until he reached outside. He could see a blue streak flying away from the area while three others stood around inside of a building, still recovering from some kind of blast. Since he'd just taken out the bad Bubbles, the retreating one had to be the good one.  
  
He streaked after her instantly, flying as fast as he could to catch up with them. Bubbles looked to be in pretty bad shape, but Blossom clutched in her arms looked downright beaten and tired as all hell. "Where did you go..." Blossom asked when she noticed he'd joined them.  
  
"I had my hands full." He replied simply. It was true enough really, and he was lucky he'd been able to make himself leave from there. If she hadn't kissed him who knows what might have happened... but he shouldn't think about that. They had to retreat and think out a plan to fight not only more Powerpuff Girls, but Brick too...  
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Brick stood in the passageway between the infinite colors of Eternity and the dark passageway that would lead him back to his body once again. He turned one more time to look back at the Professor who was just watching him calmly and sucking on the pipe that had been in his mouth the whole time.  
  
"Oh and Brick." The Professor called after him. "Please be patient with Buttercup... You have no idea how all of this has affected her." He said with something like fatherly concern in his voice.  
  
"I will." Brick replied with a reassuring nod before he turned and walked into the darkness. It encompassed him instantly as he moved deeper into it, looking around for any sign of the being that was already in control of him. His only clue was a soft mumbling from somewhere up ahead of him in the darkness.  
  
He moved toward it cautiously, lowering himself into a crouch as he moved steadily forward. Finally he spotted a figure that looked exactly like him, but in his old five-year-old body. He seemed to be simply staring into the darkness from a crimson light that shone down on him from somewhere far overhead. That had to be how he controlled his body... he had to get that thing out of there... but how?  
  
He looked around quickly for anything he could use to attack from a distance, quickly finding a revolver sitting on the ground right beside him. He didn't question his fortune as he took quick aim and fired one bullet. It plunged into the smaller figures back and sent him flying out of the light in a heap.  
  
The gun vanished as quickly as it'd appeared as Brick slowly approached his doubles still form that lay in the darkness ahead of him. Suddenly the figure leapt up, planting a solid kick against Bricks stomach and sending him stumbling backward.  
  
"This body's mine!" He screamed angrily as he threw himself at Brick again. He raised his arms quickly to defend himself, and found a shield clutched in his left hand. It deflected the kick, but sent them both stumbling away from each other. Anything he needed was being created... of course, this was HIS mind.  
  
"Come on." Brick said with a wide grin when he finally realized what he could do here. He wouldn't let this little runt keep him from what was rightfully his.  
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"I think we showed them a thing or two." Buttercup said as she gave her red-haired sister an enthusiastic high five. "Powerpuff Girls whoop ass!" She exclaimed loudly with a harsh laugh.  
  
"Yeah, forget wimpy Powerpuff Girls, we're the Whoopass Girls!" Blossom agreed with a return grin. "Wonder where Bubbles disappeared to though..." She said softly. In a moment the blond haired puff floated out of another building. Her clothing was on crooked and she looked like she'd just woken up.  
  
"How'd things go with Boomer?" Buttercup asked teasingly.  
  
"Bite me..." Bubbles retorted irritably as she floated over to join the other three. In a moment a flash of fire manifested in front of them from no apparent source. They all watched as the red feminine figure of him emerged with an evil grin on his face.  
  
"Very good my children." He told them in his soft, dulcet tone of voice. "Just follow them and DESTROY them once and for all... And this world shall be your playground." He said more darkly.  
  
"Now you're talking my language." Buttercup said eagerly.  
  
"Let's go and get 'em!" Blossom said.  
  
"I'll get him for resisting me!" Bubbles said angrily. They all waited a few moments before turning to Brick, who looked like he was unconscious over in the corner. "Hey, what's going on with him?" Bubbles asked confusedly.  
  
Him growled darkly as he turned to the girls again. "Go Powerpuff Girls, hurry and destroy your counterparts before you lose your chance." He said furiously.  
  
"We're going... but it's not Powerpuff Girls anymore. We're..." All three of them quickly struck a pose.  
  
"The Whoopass Girls!" They announced proudly.  
  
"GET GOING!" Him howled in his darkest voice. The girls instantly darted out of there before he could catch hold of any of them. He turned to glare down at Brick with a slight smirk on his face. He could feel what was happening in his mind... He was trying to get it back. He shouldn't let him come back, not now that he'd restored his powers.  
  
He walked over and calmly picked up the Rowdyruff Boy by the scruff of his shirt and turned away, heading back to hell to try and think of another plan if the Whoopass Girls failed him.  
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"Ooowwwww..." Bubbles whined as Miss Keane put bandages on her wounds. "What are we going to do you guys? There's too many of them." She said sadly.  
  
"What CAN we do Bubbles? Just fight them..." Blossom said from her position on the couch. She'd taken more of a beating than any of them and could barely sit up straight. Her wounds were already dressed though, so Boomer just helped her stay upright in a sitting position.  
  
"Well we can't fight them head on that's for sure..." Boomer commented thoughtfully. "Especially with you two injured... Man I wish Mange could fight..." He said. In a moment he perked up. "Hey why don't we let Mange loose? Let her clean up the mess and then we can put her back when she's done.  
  
"Our sister is NOT a weapon Boomer." Blossom said acidly. He smiled back at her sheepishly when she gave him an almost evil frown.  
  
"Alright alright bad idea..." He said with a small sigh. "Well how about we... Um... Well what about that ray gun Mojo invented to take away your powers?"  
  
"We destroyed it..." Blossom told him with a smirk. "We've destroyed pretty much everything that could hurt us..." She said ironically. "Who knew we would have to fight US?"  
  
"Hold still Bubbles." Miss Keane said as the blond Powerpuff fidgeted uncomfortably. "Maybe you girls are just thinking of this the wrong way... don't think of what you can do or what hurts you... what do you girls hate and fear the most?" She asked reasonably.  
  
"Well I'm scared of the dark a little bit..." Bubbles admitted softly.  
  
"And I'm scared of... Um..." Blossom took a few moments to think about that one. "Failure..." She said finally. A depressing silence prevailed until the front door burst inward with the sound of splintering wood.  
  
"Weee're heeeere." The leader of the Whoopass Girls said as the three of them floated into the living room with the others. "And once we take you down... This world will be OURS!" The three girls lunged without hesitation before anyone else could even hope to react to their presence.  
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Brick slowly opened his eyes a bit surprised to find himself in his body once again. He must have won the fight... he was back in his Rowdyruff form, powers and all. He could practically feel the Chemical X in his body after having it absent for so long.  
  
"Well well, back already? Well you're too late, in their weakened state the Powerpuff Girls won't stand a chance against my Whoopass Girls." Him spoke the name a bit oddly. He didn't really care for titles, and they wanted that name so they had it.  
  
Brick tried to fly away, but he was already chained to a solid rock face in bonds even he couldn't break. He'd obviously been expected. "You really think you can keep me here Him?" He asked with contempt rich in his voice.  
  
"Just tell me how you plan to escape Rowdyruff Boy?" Him asked evilly. Brick pulled at his chains as hard as he could, straining mightily. It was a futile effort however. He couldn't budge them no matter how much he tried. He was stuck here, and the others would pay because he'd let himself get suckered by Sedusa...  
  
"No..." He grunted, trying to think of a way out. He needed to be free of the chains so he could get out of here and help them. Any way necessary he had to get out... Out of the chains that bound him...  
  
He gasped when he felt the chemical in his body begin to accelerate tangibly, heating him up to a nearly unbearable temperature. He grunted with discomfort until finally it felt like he was separating, his entire body glowing red hot until the feeling vanished just as fast as it appeared.  
  
"What!?" Brick whirled to find the chains twenty feet away on the wall... he was free! Him was staring at him in shocked surprise that quickly turned to outright hatred. "You won't escape!" He howled in the darkest voice that the Rowdyruff Boy had ever heard him use.  
  
"See you around demon!" Brick exclaimed before he took off in a crimson streak. Behind him he could feel the heat once again, but he doubted it was coming from him this time. A quick look back confirmed his suspicion. A wave of fire was flying after him at incredible speeds. He'd be overtaken if he didn't do something soon.  
  
He swerved through the dark caverns as fast as he could, but the fire still gained on him steadily with an almost evil flickering chuckle. In a few moment he burst straight through the ground into the open blue sky. The blaze remained in the cavern behind him however, almost looking like it was glaring up at him angry at his escape.  
  
"Better luck next time Him!" Brick shouted down at the thing triumphantly before he streaked off toward the Powerpuff Girls house. He had to hurry before these Whoopass Girls finished off all of his friends...  
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"Hugh!" Bubbles gasped in pain when her already bruised face slammed into the carpet with her double pushing down on her forcefully. "Why are you doing this..." Bubbles said tearfully. Her voice was tinged with pain. "What did we do to you!?" She demanded tearfully.  
  
"Ah stop whining." The other Bubbles said irritably. She looked over at the others to see what was going on. Blossom was already down by the evil Blossoms hand, but Boomer was still up and sparring with Buttercup. He hadn't really taken much damage in the last fight.  
  
"Give it up, your bitches are already down!" Buttercup said irritably as he dodged her grasp yet again. "Resistance is futile!" She screamed in frustration. Before anyone could reply a crimson bullet flew through the wall, slamming into Buttercup and sending her flying through the wall to the girls' bedroom.  
  
"Brick!" Boomer exclaimed in surprise. Everyone turned to stare at him curiously, even Buttercup who was just picking herself up from the rubble of the wall.  
  
"Futile that Buttercup." Brick said as he looked around at what used to be his comrades. He could see the surprise on the Powerpuff Girls faces... all five of them. He just turned to look at Boomer squarely, ignoring them for the time being. "Come on, we have to help clean them up." He said softly.  
  
Boomer just stared at him for a minute, not sure if he should trust him anymore. Then he finally nodded and looked over at the girls again. "You take Blossom I'll take Bubbles." He said determinedly. Brick nodded and they waited a moment before suddenly streaking toward the two girls.  
  
They were caught totally off guard by the sudden assault, getting throwing back into Buttercup and further into the Powerpuff Girls bedroom.  
  
The two boys helped the Powerpuff Girls to their feet while the Whoopass Girls took a moment to regroup before approaching the hole in the wall again. "Four on three again." Blossom said with a triumphant smile. "Still want to fight now?" She asked almost challengingly.  
  
The other three girls exchanged quickly glances before blossom answered. "We're not dumb, we're getting out of here!" She said quickly before she streaked out the window in a pink trail of light.  
  
"But don't think you've seen the last of us!" Buttercup shouted before she joined her red-haired sister.  
  
"The Whoopass Girls will be back!" Bubbles vowed before she joined her two sisters in retreating out the window. Almost instantly the two Powerpuff Girls fell to their knees, weaker than they'd let on from the previous fight. The boys helped them over to sit on the couch before they collapsed completely.  
  
"Should we... go after them?" Blossom managed to say between gasps for air and grunts of pain from the wounds inflicted during the first confrontation.  
  
"We don't have time... If we don't do something NOW, The Whoopass Girls might be the LEAST of our problems." Brick said seriously. The others all stared at him strangely, but didn't say anything. "We have to break into TekTron, and eliminate all traces of Chemical X from their facilities." He said.  
  
"I thought we were letting the police handle them." Bubbles said confusedly.  
  
"By the time they can do something it might be too late for all of us." Brick replied. He spent the rest of the day explaining everything Professor Utonium had told him in Eternity. They might never figure out just what that chemical was capable of, but they all agreed it was best not to take chances. In a few days once the girls were recovered, the infiltration would begin and The Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys would fight for the balance of everything they knew. If they were too late and someone figured out the truth... the world could pay the price.  
  
THE END 


	9. 208- TekTron Tumble

208- TekTron Tumble  
  
  
Brick floated in the air as easily as he'd been able once long ago. It felt so good to have his powers back again... but he wasn't celebrating. He was watching through the electrified window as Mange just glared steadily back. He'd been coming to visit her for the last two days, but she showed no sign of recognition. He doubted if she was even really thinking anymore. He could practically feel her anger through the wall, anger at him, anger at herself.  
  
He'd tried to talk to her at first. Only his newfound teleportation power had saved him from being totally mauled. Now he just settled for watching her act like a crazed animal ready to kill him at the slightest hint of hostility. He wanted to help her but he didn't know how, she was beyond all reason.  
  
He looked over curiously when the outer door opened and Bubbles floated in. "Oh, didn't know you were here." She said surprised.  
  
"Yeah been coming for the last few days... She doesn't recognize me at all." Brick said somewhat sadly as he stared at the pulsing green eyes in the other room.  
  
"She'll snap out of it." Bubbles told him reassuringly as she floated over to the control panel. She pressed a few buttons until the electricity by the door was de-activated.  
  
"What are you doing?" Brick asked curiously.  
  
"It's been a few days since I've visited, I thought I had some catching up to do." Bubbles replied simply as she floated over to the door and pushed it open without a second though. She didn't even seem to recognize the possible danger in facing Buttercup in this state.  
  
Brick floated up to the window to watch Bubbles approach the shadow. He was afraid Mange would attack at first, but she just watched Bubbled steadily. She seemed to almost enjoy the visit while Bubbles just talked about anything and everything on her mind.  
  
He wished he could get her to calm down and just talk to her like that, but of course she still hated him like he'd never seen anything hate before. It was a good thirty minutes before Bubbles finally gave the specter a cheery wave goodbye and exited to the main room where she re-activated the electrical field.  
  
"Oh yeah and Blossom wanted to see us all in the living room when we got the chance." Bubbles told him as she headed for the door. He didn't even have to ask what this was about. They would be going to take on TekTron themselves soon, he could only assume soon meant now.  
  
So they both flew out of the lab area of Professor Tuyoma's house and back to Miss Keane's where Blossom and Boomer were still waiting for them to come back. Butch surprisingly hadn't shown much interest in even trying to help them with the infiltration. Brick really wasn't TOO surprised by that, he had taken very well to being a normal kid and seemed to honestly not want to change, no matter how much he whined for the sake of appearances.  
  
"Alright now that we're all here..." Blossom said when she saw Brick and Bubbles float into the building. She quickly got up from the couch beside Boomer to float authoritatively in front of them. Brick couldn't be sure, but he almost suspected she was hiding something by doing that. "We're going today, as Brick said we can't waste too much time. We're all healed, so we might as well do it now."  
  
"Just walk into the building and ask for them to hand over the chemical?" Brick asked incredulously.  
  
"No," Blossom replied coolly. She didn't sound angry or upset, just commanding. "Professor Tuyoma used to work there remember? She's given me four blueprints of the TekTron building. We'll be able to find everything we need once we're inside but..." She trailed off thoughtfully.  
  
"But what?" Boomer asked to prod her along.  
  
"Do any of you know how to hack into the TekTron computer system and delete the files about Chemical X?" Blossom asked simply to prove her point. The others all just stared at each other silently. That was bits of a problem, none of them were exactly computer experts. "Because all I know how to do is click on icons and open stuff." She finished.  
  
"Wait, I know someone!" Bubbles exclaimed excitedly. "He can do all of the computer work. I'm sure he'd help us." She finished.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Brick asked her.  
  
"Dexter!" Bubbles replied quickly. "He got into their computer thingy from his lab before, I'm sure he could do it again if we asked him to." The others all exchanged quick glances. It was true, they had the list of names to prove it too.  
  
"Okay, we'll stop by Bubbles' friends' house first and get him to help us, then we'll go on to TekTron and try to destroy all the hard evidence." Blossom decided quickly. "Any questions?" the others stayed silent now, just letting her piece everything together. She was one heck of a leader, even if she was unsure sometimes. "Let's do it then." She said.  
  
So they all took off through the sky to follow Bubbles to her friends' house. She was smiling uncontrollably nearly the whole time. Obviously she liked the prospect of seeing them again. It had been awhile really.  
  
Her smile faded instantly however when they reached what was obviously Dexters' house. The front door had been thrown off of its hinges by something big, and a quick scan of the living room revealed it to be in not much better shape. A crowd was slowly gathering outside, curious about what had happened. The puffs and ruffs tried to question them, but nobody had really seen anything.  
  
They found two adults in the kitchen unconscious with stun-gun marks on their throats. "Dexter! Deedee!" Bubbles cried as she streaked up the stairs to what was obviously a boys room. It was empty, but Bubbles floated over to the bookshelf and took out one of the books anyway. The others gasped slightly when the whole thing slid upward, revealing one of the most sophisticated labs they'd ever seen.  
  
Of course, more than half of it was now in shambles. The entire place looked like a warzone that had been fought in just a short while ago. Bubbles streaked around quickly, looking for any sign of her friends. "DEXTER! DEEDEE!" She screamed loudly, her sonic voice echoing through the entire lab. She perked up when she heard a muffled cry from underneath one of the piles of scrap.  
  
She streaked over quickly and pulled the metal away from the pile, eventually revealing Deedee lying in the center of it. She was bruised and scratched up, but that looked like the extent of her injuries. "Deedee, are you okay?" Bubbles asked worriedly.  
  
"Huh?" Deedee rubbed her eyes painfully before she finally looked up at her rescuer. "Bluebell!" Her voice was thick with relief as she reached out to pull the smaller girl into a hug.  
  
"Bluebell?" Blossom, Boomer and Brick all asked in unison from behind her. Bubbles ignored them though, being too concerned about her friend to worry about it.  
  
"Are you alright? What on Earth happened here?" Bubbles asked worriedly.  
  
"Oh Bluebell it was terrible!" Deedee cried out as she clutched at the smaller girls' dress. "Those awful men came again and elec... Elec... Fried mom and dad! Then they came up here and blew everything up and took Dexter! And just look at my HAIR!" She wailed miserably. Her hair was covered with burn marks and oil from the machines she'd been buried in.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll find Dexter." Bubbles said before she turned toward the others. "Guess we have one more thing to do while we're there."  
  
"We don't have much of a choice anyway, we need him to take the information out of TekTrons database." Blossom replied with a swift nod.  
  
"So don't worry Deedee, we're going to find him and bring him back." Bubbles assured the much taller girl with a gentle smile. Deedee just smiled back and sniffled slightly as she nodded. No one else could tell if she was crying over her hair or her brother, but it didn't really matter anyway.  
  
"Come on guys let's get rid of them once and for all!" Blossom said with determination ringing in her voice. The others nodded back solemnly before they all took off out of the house and through the sky again. They didn't fly toward home this time. They headed straight for Citiesville where the TekTron headquarters was waiting for them.  
  
They floated up to the glass front door and peered in cautiously. There was only a single guard at the moment since it was the middle of the day and few people would be dumb enough to try anything right now.  
  
"Okay here's the plan... We go in one at a time and sneak past him... just try to stay under the camera." Blossom whispered quickly as she pointed to the camera on the right wall. It was the kind that hung out from the wall a bit, so there was a blind spot right under it. "Who wants to go first?"  
  
"I will." Brick said quickly. The others didn't have time to argue before he silently pushed the glass door open, keeping as low as he could as he crept up to the wall. The guard was sitting near the metal detector, looking half asleep at the moment. The Rowdyruff Boy slowly slid his body along the all, waiting until the camera had turned away before quickly scooting underneath it.  
  
He held his breath tensely as it turned back toward the door, allowing him to streak to the far door in a crimson beam of light. He turned and waved the others to follow when he finally managed to settle down and realize he'd made it.  
  
The other three followed his example and made it without a hitch so they were all standing in front of TekTrons inner elevator. Blossom paused a moment to pull out one of the blueprints Patrisha had given them.  
  
"We should split up and get everything done quickly before someone catches onto us. This is a technology firm, there's no telling what kinds of weapons they have that can hurt us." She said softly. "Now Bubbles, you know what Dexter looks like so you head down to the holding cells and find him. Take him to wherever there's a computer so he can do his thing."  
  
"Right." Bubbles nodded quickly in acknowledgement of her task.  
  
"Brick, you go to the file storage room and find any hard copies they might have concerning what Chemical X is made of. Destroy anything you find." Blossom told her Rowdyruff counterpart quickly.  
  
"Got it covered." Brick replied confidently.  
  
"Boomer, you're coming with me up to the main labs so we can find any Chemical X they already have manufactured and get rid of it any way we can." Blossom told the blond Rowdyruff finally.  
  
"Alright." Boomer replied simply. With that Blossom turned and grabbed the elevator doors to pry them open. The shaft extended far up and down. She handed Brick and Bubbles their own maps before she said a few final words.  
  
"Everyone be careful, and stay out of sight. We'll meet outside the building once we're all done with our missions." She said quickly.  
  
"I'll be careful Blossom." Bubbles replied firmly while the two boys just gave two nods of their heads.  
  
"Okay, let's go!" Blossom said firmly. Blossom and Boomer streaked up the elevator shaft toward the main labs while Brick and Bubbles went down toward their own objectives.  
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Him watched the scene unfolding before him as the Powerpuffs and Rowdyruffs went their separate ways inside the TekTron building. Well this was an odd turn of events. What would they possibly want inside his corporate building? Everyone in the company was under his wing in one way or another... well it didn't matter. They were on his turf now.  
  
With a small grin he turned around to see the minions he'd collected in one way or another standing behind him, also watching the scene. Ace, indebted to Him for restoring his life and granting him more power. The Necromancer, stuck in a 'partnership' with Him until they did finally destroy The Powerpuff Girls. They both knew he was really little more than a slave though.  
  
"What do you say we welcome our guests into our company fold, hm?" Him said in a soft voice before he let out a barking laugh. He didn't know why the girls were there, but he wouldn't let them leave unscathed... he wouldn't let them leave at all.  
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Brick paused beside one of the doors on the side of the shaft, studying his map carefully as Bubbles just kept going. If he was reading it right, the file storage facilities should be on this floor.  
  
Quickly he gripped the doors and shoved them open, floating out into a hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. Doors lined it on either side, each with a letter above it. The entire floor was dedicated to file keeping. Well at least this made his job easy enough. Find the C's and he'd be out of there in a flash, no sweat no worry.  
  
He floated over to the C door and pushed it open gently. His heart stopped beating for a good five minutes when he saw that this section alone looked to be about as big as the hallway he'd just come in from. Every inch of the walls was filled with files and cabinets of all kinds of boxes strewn about in a rather random fashion took up much of the floor-space.  
  
He sighed to himself resignedly and just moved over to the first box of files. All the superpowers in the world wouldn't help him with this... aw well; there were worse things he could be doing than just reading a bunch of files.  
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Bubbles poked her head cautiously around a corner into the front of the prison block. Three guards sat at a table playing a card game of some kind. Obviously the people hired here weren't really dedicated to their jobs. Still she had to find a way to get by them without being seen. She could fly by before they could stop her, but they could sound an alarm and get them all in trouble.  
  
She looked around for a few minutes, trying to think of some way to distract them. She didn't think she had any powers that could help in a situation like this... Or did she? She did seem to be able to do a lot with her voice, speak different languages, get it extremely high, carry a laser on it... maybe she could throw it too...  
  
She cleared her throat softly and put her hands over her mouth like a megaphone, trying to concentrate before she spoke. "Hey guys, over here." She said it herself, but her voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere near the door on the wall across from where the men were sitting. The door she needed to get to was on the opposite wall from her.  
  
"You guys hear something?" One of the guards asked curiously as he looked around for the source of the sound. Okay so she could throw her voice, but talking would only get her in trouble. She needed a way to make them curious without giving herself away.  
  
She cleared her throat again and rubbed her hands together before she cupped them over her mouth again. She didn't want to talk... so she started to sing. A soft haunting melody that echoed eerily through the mostly hollow room. She'd heard it from the ending of one of the Rowdyruff Boys video games.  
  
"What on Earth is that?" One of the guards asked as all three of them leapt up from the table. In a moment though they let their guard down a bit more as the melody continued unfettered. It was painfully beautiful and the acoustics in the room were nearly perfect. They moved slowly toward the door, half wanting to investigate and half just wanting to hear it better.  
  
In a few moments Bubbles let the song die out of her throat before she streaked right behind the still dazed men. All they felt was a slight breeze before she was already halfway down the hall and around a corner. She sighed with relief as she set about searching each cell for any sign of the boy she'd come to find.  
  
In a few minutes she found Dexter sitting on the floor of one of the cells near the back. He was furiously scribbling something on a piece of paper as he muttered darkly to himself.  
  
"Hey, psst, Dexter!" Bubbles said softly so she wouldn't attract anybody's attention as she floated up to the door of the cell. He turned quickly to glare at her through his thick glasses. It took him a moment to realize she wasn't a guard.  
  
"You again, what are you doing here?" He asked her quickly. "Thanks to you my lab is completely destroyed.  
  
"I didn't do it!" Bubbles complained. "They did, and I need your help to get back at them!" She told him seriously.  
  
"Why should I help you?" He asked her stubbornly.  
  
"Because I'm breaking you out of here." She informed him as she grabbed the lock to the cell and crushed it with one hand. She calmly pushed the bars of the cell open and took a step inside, glaring at him.  
  
"Hmm... Good point..." Dexter mused as he put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "What do you need me to do?"  
  
"We're going to find a computer and you're going to get rid of everything they know about Chemical X." Bubbles told him.  
  
Dexter let a small smile creep across his face as he heard her speak those words. "Then let's do it." He said eagerly. He obviously liked the idea of punishing the ones who did destroy everything he'd worked pretty much his entire life to build. And maybe take a little bit of their knowledge home with him.  
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"Ssshhhh..." Blossom whispered to Boomer as they both floated through the hallways as inconspicuously as they could. This section of the building was used a lot more than most of the other sections. They'd had to duck into rooms several times to avoid being spotted. It was slow going trying to find the main lab where the Chemical X was being stored, but with the map's help they at least knew they were going in the right direction.  
  
They quickly streaked up behind the low hanging light strips as several researchers passed by underneath them. They were right outside the main lab now, but there was no way they'd be able to get in without being spotted by somebody. Too many people were at work in the middle of the day.  
  
"What do we do now?" Boomer asked her silently as he tried to keep the lights out of his eyes. It was really impossible since they were floating right next to them, they wouldn't be able to stay there long or go blind.  
  
"That's why there's two of us here, you can round up all the researchers who are actually in there, I don't think there are any guards right now from what Professor Tuyoma told me. You keep them all still while I dump the Antidote X into the Chemical X... Make it completely useless." Blossom told him firmly.  
  
"Good plan." Boomer admitted grudgingly.  
  
"Thanks." Blossom smiled at him a moment before she grew serious again. "Now we go on the count of three... one... two... three!" In a flash they both streaked down from the light fixture and into the lab itself. Several researchers looked up from their work in surprise when they burst in, glaring around quickly to take a head count.  
  
"Okay everybody over here!" Boomer yelled quickly as he pointed over to a corner. The lab area overlooked a huge containment area where a two-story vat of chemical X was being stored... but it was alone. There wasn't any Antidote X in sight.  
  
"She said it'd be here..." Blossom grumped as Boomer rounded up the scientists. "We can't get rid of this stuff without it! Where's the Antidote X?" She demanded as she whirled on the researchers.  
  
"We never store them in the same building anymore, they're always kept separate for fear they might accidentally mix." One of the scientists replied fearfully.  
  
"Splendid, NOW what do we do?" Boomer asked drolly. Blossom didn't have an answer for him though. They couldn't do anything with the Chemical X now; they were so close to their objective but so far...  
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Brick could feel his eyes crossing themselves as he stared blankly at the next box of files he had to check. He'd already done at least a dozen and his eyes felt like balls of fire by now. He had to find those files though, it wouldn't do any good to destroy the chemical if they could just make more. Luckily nobody really seemed to come here that often, he'd only seen one person this whole time.  
  
He sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily, dreading that he'd have to resume his search. He had might as well just get it over with though. The sooner he found the file the sooner he could get his butt out of here and stop torturing his eyeballs.  
  
He paused when he heard a soft rustling right behind him, like something moving through the pile of papers he'd scattered across the floor in his haste. Slowly he stopped and turned himself around, looking up at a shadow that had suddenly begun to block his light. He barely had time to gasp in surprise before one clawed hand gripped him by the throat and hefted him into the air.  
  
"Been a while, Bricky-boy!" Ace's dark, inhuman voice taunted him before one deformed claw hurled him back against one of the cabinets in the center of the room. It crumbled easily under the force of the throw, being bent completely out of shape with the Rowdyruff Boy pinned inside of it.  
  
"Uhn..." Brick let out a soft groan as he pushed himself out of the twisted steels grip, trying to regain his bearings enough to fight. He looked up just in time to see one huge fist barreling towards him from above.  
  
He barely managed to leap to the side before Aces fist tore the steel cabinets roughly in half. He floated in the air facing the half-spider with his fists in front of him. He remembered the others taking about fighting the new Ace, and from the throw he'd just suffered he knew he didn't have a chance on his own. He couldn't give up though. They needed those files.  
  
"Come on Rowdyruff Boy." Ace taunted him with a hideous smirk on his face underneath his dark shades. Brick whirled around to grab one of the steel cabinets right beside him and hurl it at the inhuman monster. The Gangrene Gang member just swung one fist outward, batting the projectile aside like it were a nuisance.  
  
"Oh boy..." Brick mumbled to himself as the spider-like creature moved toward him with a huge grin on his face.  
  
"My turn." Ace said with a grin as he advanced on the much smaller boy. Brick would definitely have his work cut out for him this time.  
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"Hurry hurry hurry..." Bubbles chanted softly as she watched Dexter work at the computer terminal they'd found elsewhere on the same floor as the prison. They'd had to lure the guards away from the room, and they could return at any moment. She couldn't help but be nervous as she watched the boy genius tapping away at the keyboard in front of him.  
  
"Patience." Dexter chided her, never taking his eyes off of the screen. "I can do it fast and alert security or I can do it right. Hacking is an exact science, there are billions of strands of complex coding that I must sort through in order to find the password into the main TekTron database and format the required files."  
  
"Um... What?" Bubbles asked confusedly.  
  
Dexter just sighed and slapped his forehead with one palm. "It takes time." He muttered before he went back to work. Bubbles just shrugged and watched the glowing screen, which reflected off of the boys' glasses, obscuring his eyes completely.  
  
They both jumped a bit when a surge of electricity ran through the computer in front of them. "What's..." Bubbles whispered before an image flashed across the screen for just an instant. A pair of blood red eyes pulsing in the blank monitor. "Oh no..." She whispered as she whirled toward the door.  
  
"Walking into the lions den to face his strongest defenses." The Necromancer said with a wry grin. Bubbles moved to stand in front of Dexter quickly.  
  
"Keep working, get it done." Bubbles whispered to him softly as she faced the figure in the black robe that just sneered back at her dangerously. "You just get out of here you big meany! I'm not scared of you!" She yelled determinedly. She had to at least give Dexter time to finish deleting the Chemical X formula.  
  
"Live and learn." The Necromancer told her with a smirk as he thrust one hand forward. "Kutalukan!" A ball of fire appeared around the outstretched hand just before it threw itself toward her. She couldn't move or it'd hit Dexter, and she doubted he could take a blow from this guy...  
  
So she put her arms over her face and braced herself to receive the blow head on. The ball of flame exploded on contact with her arms, the fire engulfing her entire body for a moment. She let out a small squeak of pain but was otherwise silent until the flames died down a moment later.  
  
She grunted angrily as she slowly let her arms lower from the front of her face. The skin on the outside of her arms was black and flaking a bit painfully from the heat of the fire, but she paid it no mind as she faced her enemy determinedly. Her eyes didn't betray any real hint of fear, just the knowledge that she had to do what she had to do.  
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"What do we do... What do we do..." Blossom was severely beating herself up mentally for not anticipating something like this. She'd just planned to waltz in with no backup plan and have everything go perfectly. Now this might be their only chance to do this and they couldn't actually do it. They needed a way to get rid of thousands of gallons of Chemical X before someone caught onto their infiltration...  
  
"What a predicament." They both looked up quickly when they heard a dulcet voice floating down to them from a platform above the Chemical X. As she'd feared Him was standing there with his arms crossed, watching them leisurely.  
  
"What are YOU doing here!?" Blossom demanded angrily.  
  
"I've come to... protect my investment." Him replied softly, just staring down at them with his dark, evil eyes. "Now it's my turn. Why are you here?" He asked.  
  
"None of your business. Now go back to where you came from!" Blossom retorted with righteous anger.  
  
"I will know." Him said as his eyes began to pulse a bright green. The two just stared each other down angrily until Blossom felt something prick the back of her mind. Gently at first, then it forced its way painfully into her head, making her scream out in pain and drop to her knees.  
  
"Blossom!" Boomer instantly abandoned his vigil by the researcher to streak over and check on her. "Blossom are you alright?" He put his arms on her shoulder worriedly, trying to get her to look at him. He didn't even notice as several of the researchers slipped out of the room to alert building security of the break in.  
  
"Get... out of... my... head..." Blossom said through teeth clenched from the pain. Boomer just looked from her to Him and back again in confusion, slowly beginning to get what was going on. In a moment though she stopped struggling, panting and just staying on her hands and knees weakly.  
  
"So that's the truth..." Him said softly as he looked down at the vat of Chemical X beneath him. "The power of creation itself... The power of a true God... One I can really become." He grinned eagerly as he realized the potential of this.  
  
Blossom forced herself up to her feet with Boomers steadying hand on her shoulder. He'd poked around inside of her head for the information, the ultimate violation of everything she was. He had her thoughts... He'd copied them right from her. "You're not going to get that chemical." She swore darkly.  
  
Boomer just glared at Him darkly. "Don't worry Blossom, he doesn't have any ingredients, he can't use it now." He said. "By the time he finds some we'll have gotten rid of it!"  
  
"Wrong again little boy." Him replied darkly as he made a grand gesture at the few researchers that remained huddled in the corner in fear. Two of them gasped in surprise when they were lifted from the ground by some invisible force and flown over to Him. "I have my ingredients right here."  
  
"You wouldn't!" Boomer yelled immediately.  
  
"He would..." Blossom grumbled as Him thrust the two men down towards the Chemical X vat. Not only would this kill the two men, but something made from that much Chemical X would probably be completely unstoppable. "Catch them quickly!" she yelled as both of the heroes darted to try and catch them.  
  
They were both blown off course however by a mighty surge of energy from Him. They both slammed into the ground hard and could only watch as them men plunged into the vat. Their screams finally died down as the entire building began to shake somewhat.  
  
"What now..." Boomer asked darkly as a hideous roar arose from inside the vat. It sounded like it was hollow now, the entire vat had taken a single form at Him's bidding.  
  
"COME to me!" Him screamed darkly as a tentacle shot above the vat to grip one of the beams high overhead. They all watched in amazement as the creature haled itself up to the rim of the vat, its eyes looking around it. It's body was almost like that of a centipede that was as sinuous as a snake. It's feet also seemed to be able to extend as one of them was now gripping the ceiling high overhead. Its face was only vaguely humanoid as the eyes stuck out on two stalks like a snail.  
  
"We stop it, like we always do! Come on!" Blossom told Boomer before they both streaked up towards the creature, pulling their fists back behind them. Before they even got close one tentacle lashed out and struck Blossom head on, sending her flying backward at an incredible speed.  
  
"BLOSSOM!" Boomer had been flying behind her, so he got in her way to catch her quickly. She just slammed into him and carried him with her though until they plunged straight through the four-foot steel wall and fell to the ground heavily with her on top of him. She was in too much pain to even move for a few minutes, but she did know they were in a lot of trouble now...  
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"RAGH!" Brick cried out in pain as he was slammed into yet more of the steel cabinets. His body was aching and bruised all over by now. He'd gotten in a few sturdy hits, but Ace's exoskeleton protected him from the majority of what the Rowdyruff Boy could do. He needed a plan of attack that would pierce through armor, but he couldn't think of anything...  
  
He pushed himself up to his feet as he faced the spider that was once again advancing on him with a dark grin on his face. Maybe he was thinking the wrong way, what could take out a bug? What did little boys do to bugs... pin them to things? Or set them on fire...  
  
His eyes went wide as he suddenly realized a plan of attack. He took off from the ground just before Ace could strike again and flew to the other side of the library, knocking cabinets over and spilling the contents of everything in the room all over the place.   
  
"Running desperate?" Ace asked with a dark chuckle. "Just give up already." He said confidently.  
  
Brick looked around after a few moments. Every box and cabinet was empty, its contents spilled all over the floor. "You forgot I can do one thing you can't Ace." He said with a sly grin.  
  
"And what's that boy?" He asked with a smirk.  
  
"I'm flying, you're not." Brick replied as he looked down at the sea of files and notes. His heat vision instantly ignited one set of papers, setting it into flames that quickly spread throughout the entire room. Ace didn't have time to get off the ground before the fire reached him, burning him horribly. Of course this also eliminated the Chemical X files, since they were somewhere in the blaze. Two birds with one stone.  
  
"My job's done, just time to get out of here." He told himself before he streaked past Ace, who was desperately trying to get to the door since the ceiling would be a bad idea due to the smoke. Brick threw the door open and streaked down the hall, hoping that the others had managed to get their parts of the mission done as well. If they didn't this would have been for nothing...  
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Bubbles growled deep in her throat as she dodged another electrical attack that was flung at her. She was getting more and more tired of this little game of dodge-ball they had going. She always had to dodge the ball, well it was getting tiresome. On the upside The Necromancer seemed to be completely ignoring Dexter, who seemed to be close to getting what they needed to do done.  
  
Finally she got tired of being on the defense and threw herself at the Necromancer. This caught him off guard enough to allow her to slam into him, sending him reeling back from the force of the blow. She swung again mightily, but he brought his staff up to parry the blow and shoved one hand into her chest. An explosion of light sent her sailing back into the center of the room heavily.  
  
"Ow..." She groaned with pain as she pushed herself to her feet, just looking more angry than ever rather than truly pained. She leapt into the air as another lightning bolt flew at her, coming down with a hard kick to the jaw that sent her opponent flying back against the steel wall. "Don't mess with... me?" she trailed off curiously as a red light began flashing on the ceiling overhead. "Dexter what's going on?"  
  
"The entire building is going to self-destruct. It is a defense mechanism if anyone tried to copy files from the main database." Dexter replied as he quickly tapped at the keyboard.  
  
"Copy? But you were supposed to delete!" Bubbles told him sternly.  
  
"Did you think I would pass up an opportunity like this?" Dexter asked her sensibly. "TekTron is one of the leading technology firms and to get even part of their knowledge would..."  
  
"We have to GO!" Bubbles interrupted him by grabbing his arm and streaking out of the room as fast as she could. She only hoped the others got out okay before the building was blown sky high.  
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Blossom groaned painfully as she finally made herself roll over off of Boomer and rub her head with one hand. Her body was aching just from that one blow, an entire swimming pool of Chemical X... That thing would be impossible to beat unless they did something extremely drastic.  
  
"Boomer, I think we need to retreat and regroup..." She looked up at the hole they'd punched in the wall for a moment before she realized he wasn't responding. "Boomer?" She looked down at him to see him just staring up at the ceiling with his back twitching painfully.  
  
"Yeah I'm alright... I'll be fine..." He grunted, obviously in severe pain. She reached over and grabbed his shoulders gently. Just this small movement made him twitch, something was obviously wrong.  
  
She slowly lifted him up from the floor by his shoulders. His eyes clenched shut painfully as he leaned against her weakly. She gasped in surprise when she saw a steel shard from the wall embedded into his back. It was a good size too, not one he could just shrug off by any means.  
  
"Boomer... You'll be fine..." She quickly tried to reassure him as she put her arms around him to touch around the wound. He winced at every minor pressure applied to his back.  
  
"I know... I won't let some... Giant grass-eating bug kill me..." He replied somewhat mirthfully despite the pained inflection in his voice.  
  
"I'm going to pull it out... hold onto me..." Blossom told him as she gripped the shard in her hands. She felt his arms grip her waist tightly just from that small movement. She took a deep breath before she began to tug it free from its place in his back.  
  
Boomer gave a strangled cry of pain and gripped her waist tightly as she continued to pull, trying anything not to make the wound worse. His arms clutched her even tighter and a grunt of anguish escaped his throat just before she finally pulled it free from his back and dropped it to the floor.  
  
"Try to relax." She told him as she ran her hands up the back of his shirt so the cloth wouldn't get in the way. "The Chemical X will heal it fast..." She told him as she put her hands gently on either side of the wound and pushed it closed. Almost immediately she could see the strands of flesh reaching out for each other to again close up the wound, though she wasn't sure the scar would ever vanish completely.  
  
Boomer gulped painfully as he pulled back from her finally, looking her in the eyes seriously. "Th... thanks..." He told her softly. She just smiled and nodded back before he tried to stand up. Quickly Blossom stood up and helped him with her hands on his arm.  
  
Before either of them could say anything else a red light began to blink on the ceiling just above them. It looked almost like an emergency signal. "That's not a good sign I'll bet." Blossom mused ironically.  
  
"Let's get out of here... we need to find the others before we an take that thing on anyway." Boomer said softly. Blossom really couldn't argue, so she pulled him close and took flight with him in her arms. He wouldn't be able to move too fast in this state or he could re-open the wound.  
  
She streaked through the halls as fast as she could, ignoring the numerous researchers and guards who were also trying to flee for the exit. Another sign that they didn't want to hang around.  
  
They finally reached the open air just before the building behind them exploded in a shower of flames and debris that flew every which way. A quick frantic search revealed Bubbles and Brick were already waiting for them. A boy Blossom didn't know was also standing beside Bubbles... probably Dexter.  
  
"Well, I think everything's destroyed." Brick remarked ironically as he cast a quick glance at the other orange haired boy.  
  
"Well I should think that they will no longer be a problem." Dexter replied seriously.  
  
"What happened? We wanted to destroy the Chemical X, not blow the bloody building all to hell and kill everyone who worked there." Blossom demanded, somewhat angry at having the plans changed so dramatically.  
  
"It's for the best I think though." Boomer told her with a soft smile and a meaningful wink. She shut up after that since he was right, that worm thing was probably gone too after that.  
  
"Let's just go home, I hurt SO bad..." Brick commented as he rubbed his neck painfully. Nobody else could really complain so, after a quick stop to drop Dexter off, they all flew home. Oddly enough Blossom still found herself carrying Boomer. He was wounded after all, and she wouldn't let anyone who followed her lead suffer... but something was different now. She couldn't put her finger on it though, just something...  
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Him stood just outside the wreckage of his once mighty corporation. He'd built it so he'd have more influence on the human world... but now that influence was cut. He still had other means of course, but this was a big blow to what he did. Still Ace and The Necromancer were fine back at the base... but his real prize in all of this was just waiting to be unleashed again. Not now though, he would wait until the girls were at their weakest, then strike them down in one fell swoop.  
  
He might have lost the Chemical X and the means to make it... but his newest creation would one day be hailed as the destroyer of this world and its defenders, The Powerpuff Girls. This he swore... and this he knew.  
  
THE END 


	10. 209- Love Hurts

209- Love Hurts (Season Finale)  
  
  
  
Bubbles stuck her tongue out in concentration as she made an X in the upper left box. A few moments later she made a circle in the middle box, then an X in the upper right. Another circle in the right and another X on the top later and she exclaimed in frustration. "I lost again!" She crumbled up the paper and threw it in the trash in the corner of the room with all the other losses against herself.  
  
Blossom rolled her eyes when she saw this. Sometimes she worried about Bubbles, but inside she knew that her blond sister was just still playing around. She would grow up someday and be just fine like any normal woman.  
  
The leader of the Powerpuff Girls turned back to her laptop for a few moments, but her eyes started crossing after staring at it for so long. Finally she gave a small sigh and stretched her back out as she reached one hand forward to lower the lid of her computer, de-activating it.  
  
Just after she'd done that Miss Keane poked her head into the room. "Bath time girls." She said. Normally nine-year-olds would take individual baths, but having so many kids in the house would make that tedious for pretty much everybody. So the girls bathed together, and so did Boomer and Brick since they were still young too. Only Butch took one individually, being bigger than the rest.  
  
Bubbles finally ceased trying to finally best herself at tick-tac-toe so she could follow Blossom into the bathroom where the water was already waiting in the tub. They quickly stripped their dresses and undergarments off before hopping into the pleasantly warm water.  
  
Bubbles almost instantly went to playing with her little toys while Blossom just leaned against the side of the tub to let herself soak. School and crime fighting were getting to her, it was only during these times at the end of the day when she got any peace. Well she accepted it, and at least Bubbles was having fun.  
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The Rowdyruff Boys were still waiting in the living room for their turn to get ready for bed. Boomer and Butch were playing a video game while Brick just sat on the couch beside them, munching on a piece of jerky Miss Keane had given him to tide him over.  
  
"Come on come on, YES." Boomer exclaimed as he managed to kick his brothers character in the head. There wasn't much to the game really, just beat the crap out of each other. The girls never played it either, only the boys occasionally had fun with it since Miss Keane had forbidden roughhousing after they'd torn holes in the walls several times.  
  
Brick couldn't help but let his mind wander back to Buttercup/Mange as it always did. He'd already tried everything he could possibly think of to help her get better from whatever this was, but nothing worked. He was starting to think the only way to help her was to give her what she wanted which, knowing Mange, was his head on a platter.  
  
"I'm gonna head out, I'll be back before bed time." Brick said as he hopped up off the couch. His brothers simply gave short grunts in response before he floated to the door and streaked out into the twilight. If Mange wanted his head, he would give it to her. He deserved it anyway...  
  
In a few moments he landed in front of Professor Tuyoma's lab and went inside. A few quick button presses on the control panel de-activated the rooms' electrical current and opened the door to Mange's containment cell.  
  
He slowly walked over to the entrance to just stand there silently. The darkness in the back of the room almost looked like it was alive as Mange shifted, the green eyes appearing in the darkness to just watch him steadily.  
  
"Here I am... do whatever you want to do." Brick said as he raised his arms out to his sides. He just stared at the darkness as it seemed to move toward him slowly, writhing and swirling in the shadows, almost seeming to be a part of them.  
  
"Tell me one reason not to just rip your head off... cheater... traitor..." Mange said in her dark voice as she wrapped several black tendrils around his arms and torso. He didn't even flinch or try to struggle.  
  
"Because... I love you." Brick replied as calmly as he could even though he could feel his upper body being slowly crushed under the force of her grip. "I have no explanations or excuses... I'm just sorry... Sorry I did what I did... and sorry it drove you to THIS... Buttercup." He said with a regretful smile. "And I know somewhere you still love me..."  
  
"Please..." Mange said disgustedly as one shadowy tendril snaked its way into his pants. It was hardly a loving pat however as she gripped the offending body part and tugged hard, threatening to yank it right off. "Maybe I should just go by an old philosophy, if you steal they cut off your hands, if you f*ck some other girl..."  
  
"Rgh..." Brick started sweating furiously both from the pain of her grip and his own fear of losing that very important organ. He'd come here prepared to let her do anything to make up for what he did though, so he still didn't fight back. "If it'll make you feel better... if it'll bring back Buttercup instead of staring back at YOU all the time Mange, then just do it..." He half-growled.  
  
"Don't think I WON'T" Mange said darkly, tugging a bit harder. He bit his lower lip from the pain it sent through him, but still made himself not fight back. He would take anything he had to.  
  
"I said DO IT!" Brick howled, his voice rising involuntarily from the pain and fear that ran through him at the thought of what she was about to do. He just braced himself for it as best he, or anybody, could. The final tug never came though, and the darkness' grip even seemed to relax only slightly.  
  
"Just tell me... why?" Brick opened his eyes a bit at the shadows' unusually light tone of voice. It had sounded more like Buttercup than Mange, maybe he was actually getting through to her. "Why the hell was another girl able to trick you so badly in under a day?"  
  
"I don't know." Brick shook his head and closed his eyes, praying he didn't say something wrong. "When you left screaming and she came up to me being clingy I... I just couldn't think of anything but her and her... body..." He replied softly. "I won't say it wasn't my fault... because it was. I'll just say... I regret it, I have ever since I managed to come back..."  
  
"Woopdee doo for you..." Mange said darkly as she shoved him up against the wall, her tendrils of shadow finally pulling away from his body. "We've finally reached a decision about you..." Her voice sounded neutral now, somewhere in between the two different personalities.  
  
"And that is..." He asked, dreading the answer more than anything he'd ever had to face.  
  
"That you... don't exist to me anymore..." Even as she spoke the darkness that had cloaked her for weeks since Brick had been taken away in every way possible pulled away to reveal the little girl underneath. "We've been trying to decide whether I hate you or love you and I can't reach a decision... So you're nothing."  
  
"I... We..." Brick just stared at her in confusion for a few moments. He'd hoped coming here would get rid of Mange or at least calm her down, but it seemed like the rift between Buttercup and her shadow was even greater now. She didn't even refer to herself as 'I' anymore; it was 'we'...  
  
"We'll live with you, and we won't say anything, but never touch us again, got it?" Buttercup said firmly, just glaring at him with eyes that almost looked blanketed with ice.  
  
"Yeah... I understand..." Brick lowered his eyes in defeat as she walked past him, out into the light for the first time in weeks. He'd hoped time would have healed her wounds, but they'd only gotten worse. She was now sane enough to hopefully live with the rest of them again... but she hated his guts...  
  
"Good, now I'm going home, you can come or not, I don't care." Buttercup said as she floated past him. He noted with some irony that it was wholly Buttercup now, but she still didn't want anything to do with him. He supposed he did deserve it, but it still hurt more than he'd ever imagined anything could...  
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Boomer and Butch were still sitting on the couch watching the TV when the front door opened behind them. They didn't really pay any attention, they just naturally assumed Brick had returned from his vigil over Buttercup ass he almost always did.  
  
"You're late dude, Miss Keane's already pissed." Boomer said calmly as he reached for a drink on the coffee table at his feet. "Didn't even make us go get ready yet." In a moment the front door opened again and closed without warning. Butch and Boomer just looked at each other a moment before turning to see Brick just now walking into the living room.  
  
"If you're just right there... then who came in a minute ago?" Butch asked confusedly. Their red haired brother didn't even have to say anything, the look in his eyes was plenty.  
  
"No way..." Boomer shot up from the couch to streak upstairs in a flash of blue light.  
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Blossom felt the water washing around her bare skin in an almost massaging manner. She loved baths, especially with Bubbles playing right beside her. Her sisters frantic playing made the water almost feel like a wave pool. It was so relaxing she couldn't help but feel better no matter what kind of day she'd been having up until that point.  
  
She was kind of put off when Bubbles stopped playing suddenly to stare out the cracked open door. Miss Keane still wanted to keep an ear on them, no matter how old they got. "What is it Bubbles?" Blossom asked, wanting to know why the soothing waves had stopped.  
  
"I thought I just saw Buttercup in the hall." Bubbles said seriously.  
  
"What!?" Blossom demanded incredulously. She would have denied it if it was anybody but Bubbles. Her blond sister never lied though. If she said she saw Buttercup, then she probably did. "I have to check this out." Without even bothering to get dressed she streaked from the tub with her sister close in tow.  
  
They made it to the hall where they saw a patch of black hair disappearing into their room. They were about to go investigate when they heard a slight gasp of surprise behind them.  
  
They whirled to see Boomer staring at them with wide surprised eyes. It look Blossom a moment to remember her and Bubbles were still unclothed and very much dripping wet.  
  
The sheer embarrassment hung thick in the air until Bubbles finally cracked and let out a shrill scream. This in turn startled Blossom and Boomer, who promptly started screaming along with her. So they stood in the hall for a few minutes screaming like banshees for no real reason they could fathom.  
  
They all stopped and turned to watch as the Powerpuff Girls' door opened and Buttercup stepped out irritably. "Will you guys knock it off? I'm trying to get some sleep." She grumbled before she closed the door again, ignoring the startled expressions of her sisters and Boomer.  
  
In a moment Bubbles screamed again from seeing her sister after she'd been locked away for so long. Boomer screamed in response as well, but Blossom finally managed to grab her sister by the arm and fling them both back into the bathroom and close the door behind them.  
  
Both girls just leaned against the door of the bathroom panting. They were both blushing brightly from embarrassment. Seeing their sister in the hall had surprised them both so much they'd forgotten even what they'd been doing at the time.  
  
"Let's... get dressed..." Blossom suggested between her heavy breaths. Bubbles nodded silently, so they quickly set about drying themselves off and getting dressed. They couldn't wait to talk to Buttercup again and see just what had happened to mellow her out enough for release.  
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Boomer stumbled down the steps to the living room in something of a daze. He didn't even remember that he could just fly and spare himself the trouble of walking into things. His brothers turned to stare at him curiously until he finally made his way to the couch and threw himself on it, not looking at anything in particular. He did cross his legs peculiarly though.  
  
"Uh... Dude... Are you okay?" Butch asked curiously.  
  
"Oh yeah just fine... I'm gonna go get some water..." Boomer silently floated into the kitchen where Miss Kane was busy washing dishes while the girls were getting ready for bed.  
  
"Need something Boomer?" She asked him kindly. He didn't respond to her though, instead just grabbing a glass and filling it with cold water form the sink. "There's drinking water in the fridge." She suggested. He just splashed the water on his face though before putting the glass down and floating back to the living room.  
  
"There..." He plopped down on the couch firmly and just stared at the TV, which had been left on when the commotion had started. His brothers simply stared at him in confusion for awhile, not really sure what to make of this rather odd behavior.  
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Buttercup lay on her bed silently staring at the window that was right across form the bed. She could feel Mange still seething inside of her. It was all she could do to just get her alter ego to calm down enough to not really rip his appendage off. Deep down she did still love him and she would have given anything to hold him again, but Mange kept creeping to the front whenever she let those feelings show.  
  
She looked down at the door as it was cracked open and her sisters moved inside carefully. They were still a bit wet and their hair was still down as opposed to their normal hairstyles. A general air of concern followed them into the room, concern for Buttercup, and maybe a bit for all of Townsville after what had happened before.  
  
"Are you feeling okay?" Blossom asked her finally when her and Bubbles reached the side of the bed.  
  
"Yeah I think so... Just needed some time to think is all." Buttercup replied with a slight smile.  
  
"Oh I'm so glad you're better! We were really worried about you Buttercup!" The ever-trusting Bubbles exclaimed as she leapt on the bed beside her brunette sister. Blossom looked more nervous about this whole thing, but sat down on the very edge of the bed to keep up appearances.  
  
"Oh Bubbles, I need a favor..." Buttercup said seriously.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Buttercup reached into her dress for a moment and Blossom was half-afraid she'd pull a weapon or something. Instead though she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the blond puff. "Finish this for me... would you?" Buttercup asked.  
  
"Of course I will!" Bubbles exclaimed happily as she reached for her box of markers by the bed. Blossom looked curiously to see it was the sketch Bubbles had done of Buttercup and Brick.  
  
"I don't get it Buttercup... Why don't you just go downstairs and talk to him or something? I know he'd be delighted to see you again." Blossom said.  
  
Buttercup just shook her head though, but Blossom had a feeling it was meant for more than just those that were outside of her body. "He's dead to me now, I don't care about him. I just want that for old times sake." She said firmly. Bubbles looked up from her drawing in surprise while Blossom just stared at her.  
  
"I see..." Blossom grumbled while Bubbles just frowned sadly and went back to her drawing. She always drew something when she was upset, and it was kind of lucky Buttercup had just given her something to work on. Or maybe that had been her intent. As tough as their brunette sister liked to act, she did care about her sisters.  
  
"Don't worry about it guys, we're all better off anyway. I can concentrate on being a superhero again without him slowing me down." Buttercup said as she laid back on her section of the bed again. "We're all better off..." She whispered to herself.  
  
"I'm going to go see how Boomer's doing..." Blossom said softly. Buttercup just nodded, knowing full well she really just wanted to get out of there while Bubbles didn't say anything, concentrating on her work.  
  
So the leader of the Powerpuff Girls floated out of their bedroom quickly and headed downstairs. She found Boomer and Brick sitting on the couch quietly discussing something while Butch was nowhere to be found. He was likely getting ready for bed since he was the only kid in the house to have to do it on his own.  
  
"Oh, Blossom, how's Buttercup doing?" Brick asked instantly when he saw his puff counterpart floating up behind the couch. Boomer looked over at her as well, a slight blush coming to his cheeks just from looking at her again. She blushed a bit as well, but tried not to make it TOO obvious.  
  
"She's sleeping Brick, I think... Um... I think you should leave her alone for awhile." Blossom said softly. She nearly cracked when she saw a stricken expression cross the Rowdyruff Boys' face. He just nodded though, trying to act nonchalant as he got up from the couch and silently floated over to the stairs.  
  
Blossom sighed sadly as she plopped herself down on the couch where he had been. "If it's not one thing it's another..." She grumbled sadly to herself. As bad as this situation was though, she couldn't help but think about being caught in the hall like that. It was kind of funny looking back at it even now, but it still brought a flush to her cheeks.  
  
"Well I'm sure things will work out between them, they always manage to find a way." Boomer said confidently. He too looked nervously down at the carpet. Every time he did look at her he blushed and looked away again.  
  
"Look Boomer... that was just an accident, nothing to be embarrassed about. Heck it was probably our fault more than yours, we shouldn't have left the bathroom like that for any reason..." Blossom said quickly to try and straighten things up.  
  
"Oh yeah I know, I just never knew you were so... um... cute and... stuff..." He blushed again and looked away. Blossom just stared at him curiously, turning redder than her hair looked.  
  
"Well I'm flattered..." She replied bluntly, nodding her head. "But you'd probably say the same thing to any girl you caught like that..."  
  
Boomer chuckled at that and shook his head slightly. "Maybe, I don't know... But um... you know Blossom... I've been thinking lately... Even BEFORE... that... um..." He stuttered a lot, trying to find some way to say something he wasn't quite comfortable with.  
  
"Boomer, maybe you should just leave it alone for awhile." Blossom suggested as she put one hand on his knee. "We both have a lot to do and work on before we can think about... anything like that." She knew full well what he was trying to ask from the expression on his face. His forlorn expression though made it seem like she was trying to tear his heart out.  
  
"Alright, sure nevermind..." He said softly as he stood up and started to float off. She grabbed his wrist quickly though before he could run off and start sulking. That was all they needed, their entire Rowdyruff fighting team depressed over girl troubles.  
  
"I didn't say no Boomer." She reminded him firmly. "But we both have school and crime fighting to worry about, I have too much to do for a boyfriend right now. Maybe in a few years..." She trailed off softly, not really wanting to get his hopes up or anything. Sure she liked him, but a relationship with anybody was the last thing on her mind.  
  
"Yeah maybe in a few years..." He whispered back. Finally she sighed and pulled him back to the couch with her to sit right beside her.  
  
"Look, you've helped me and been there for me more than anybody else... I don't want a boyfriend, but you're still the person I go to when I just can't take all of this anymore... which you know has been happening more and more lately." She pointed out. "Just please understand."  
  
"Oh I do, I understand fine, don't worry about it." Boomer flashed her a quick smile before he floated off to his room, probably to sulk along with his brother. Blossom gave a small sigh and put one hand to her head wearily. She sometimes hated having to be the one to keep order and make everyone happy.  
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Brick slowly pushed open the door to the Powerpuff Girls' bedroom. He'd seen Bubbles leaving through the window, so that would mean Buttercup was now alone. He had to talk to her again, no matter what she said he couldn't take that she care about him at all. It was just too much.  
  
He walked up to the side of the bed, looking down at her with a gentle smile on his face. She had already fallen asleep underneath the green section of the covers. It was only six o'clock at night too, she must have gone through a lot alone in that chamber with nowhere to sleep but the cold hard ground.  
  
He thought for a few moments how to do this, then thought back to a few years ago. When he'd decided to wake her with a kiss... That was really what he wanted here more than anything, to feel her kissing him back.  
  
He slowly crawled on the bed and held himself over her with one arm on either side of her head. He watched her sleeping, peaceful face for a few minutes. Her gentle breathing made the sheet rise and fall with the rhythm of her chest. Her hair was still up in its usual horn-like style.  
  
Slowly he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers as one hand gently ran through her hair. He was sure for a moment she would bolt up in bed and throw him across the room. Instead though he felt her lips pressing back against his, her hands slowly wrapping themselves around his chest.  
  
They held the kiss for a long time, neither one of them really wanting to let go. Finally though they had to part and just stared at each other steadily. Brick had expected her to look angry once she saw it was him, but instead he saw the same love she'd always shone before the whole mess had started. This confused him more than anything, if she still loved him, why was she trying to push him away before?  
  
His answer came to him a few moments later when Buttercup started convulsing beneath him, green energy surging through her fiercely. He could see what the real problem was in that instant as the shadow began to cover up Buttercup's body again as it normally did, but it didn't stay there as she seemed to push it away.  
  
"Rgh..." Buttercup grunted painfully as the energy surged through her. "Brick... don't let go of me..." She pleaded with him as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. She let out a yowl of pained anger though as the energy surged again, running the entire length of her body in an instant.  
  
"I'm right here... don't worry you can beat her." Brick assured her as confidently as he possibly could. He grunted painfully himself as a shadowy tendril reached from Buttercups body to wrap itself around his stomach and try to push him away. He could feel it pushing tightly, ready to just about cut him right in half if something didn't give.  
  
"Get AWAY from us!" Mange howled from Buttercups lips, but Buttercups arms and legs still clutched him tightly, holding him on top of her. He stared into Buttercups eyes, only to see that they were now the glowing green pools that always signified Manges' presence.  
  
"No... bitch, why don't you leave US alone?" Brick said angrily staring down at the pulsing green eyes. He acted tough, but he was feeling weak and shaky already from the ferocity of Buttercup's grip on him and Manges' pushing him away. It would tear him apart soon.  
  
Buttercup/Mange threw her head back painfully as another surge went through her body, this time not stopped as a dark shadow seemed to spread outward, cloaking the entire room in darkness. A shrill scream erupted from the brunette Powerpuffs' throat as her grip on Brick lessened, but so did Manges' determined pushing. She seemed to go completely limp in his arms before the darkness finally subsided.  
  
"Buttercup?" He quickly put one hand on her cheek and tried to get her to respond to him. She was sweating and panting heavily, which at least meant she was still alive. "Come on talk to me here." He ordered her firmly as he gently slapped her cheek.  
  
"Slap me again... And I'll kick your butt..." Buttercup said tiredly, though she was smiling as she spoke. He could see she was completely tired out by all of this, but there was also a glimmer of triumph in her gaze as she looked up at him. "She's gone." She told him simply. "I beat her... I finally beat her..." She breathed wearily as her head leaned back against the pillow.  
  
Bubbles streaked into the room quickly through the window to see what that scream had been. "What's going... Oh!" She exclaimed in surprise when she saw Brick in the room on top of a very tired looking Buttercup. "I'm sorry, do you want me to leave you alone?" She asked with a small blush.  
  
Buttercup replied before Brick could. "No Bubbles... If you would... make a sketch." She said, looking over at her sister.  
  
"What?" Bubbles and Brick asked in unison.  
  
"I want to remember this as we are now..." Buttercup said simply, looking up at Brick. After a few moments Bubbles gave a thrilled squeal as she got out her sketchbook and a pencil to start drawing furiously. Brick just stared down at the green-eyed puff in amazement for a long time. She'd definitely changed after this whole ordeal with Mange, even now that it was hopefully over with.  
  
It was understandable he supposed, after all not everybody has to fight themselves... he just hoped everything really was alright now. He couldn't help but be optimistic as he just stared down into Buttercups eyes. For the first time in a long while it was actually her and he just wanted to drown in those depths. The slight half-smile she gave him made him want to kiss her again, and hold her even closer. Still, he could wait a little bit longer. After all, it wasn't like Buttercup was going anywhere again now that she was finally back to be with him forever like they'd always wanted.  
  
THE END 


End file.
